


After Training, Everything Goes Wrong

by barton_lover



Series: After /Clint Is [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Comic Book Science, DCFS, De-Aged Clint Barton, Memory Loss, Sick Clint Barton, Team as Family, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:56:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 62,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27284539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barton_lover/pseuds/barton_lover
Summary: When the other Avengers get busy and leave Clint and Tony alone in the tower, the two actually follow a suggestion from Steve and do a bit of training.  Sadly, as with anything involving Clint, the training doesn't fully go as planned.  Clint has now been de-aged to a small child!  And what's worse, the thing that did it to him was untested for a normal person and unstable.  Unsure what would happen next and not ready for the many challenges ahead, Tony and Clint do their best to stumble along until everything gets fully solved.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Avengers Team, Clint Barton & Pepper Potts, Clint Barton & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: After /Clint Is [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1525922
Comments: 25
Kudos: 69





	1. Training

Tony hissed in pain as his body slammed into the desk positioned closest to the lab door. He had tried to stop himself but his socked feet slid across the polished tiled floor. Normally, he'd loved to slip and slid across the floor. Hell, he once challenged Clint to a sliding race. But who knew the archer would consider himself a weapon and so he'd know the exact amount of force needed to shoot himself down the hall and stop before hitting the wall. Something Tony had yet to perfect.

Of course today wasn't a normal day. Spinning around, Tony caught sight of the stairwell door he had used closing shut, the lab door beyond not doing the same. Whatever lead he once had was ruined with the slow motion of the automatic close. Groaning, Tony moved around the table and shifted deeper into the lab. Things weren't going well for him at the moment. Of all the times for technology to backfire against him.

"JARVIS, close the door!" Tony cried. Nothing happened. Frowning, he looked up toward the video monitor positioned closest to him. JARVIS was normally a lot faster than this. "JARV?"

"I am unable to do so. My systems are currently down," JARVIS reminded, sounding slightly annoyed and put off as he had reminded Tony various other times already. Tony cursed to himself. It wasn't until now that he realized how much he relied on the AI. Yeah, Tony knew that JARVIS could be hacked and used against him. Or JARVIS could be shut off, or worse, destroyed but he never really considered that it would happen while he was alive. He also never thought about if JARVIS went down during a battle or an attack on the tower. It was going to be his own fault now. In the back of his mind, Tony made plans to come up with various backups to make sure nothing like this could happen again.

Rushing back over to the lab door, Tony slammed it closed. Thankfully this door still had a manual lock from when Tony had panic attacks and needed to hide from Pepper. Making sure to use that to lock the door, the genius glanced into the hall. Clint stepped out of the stairwell door in that second. His bow was drawn back with one of the arrows that Tony had made for him the week before, one that both knew was perfected. Tony knew this arrow was an electric arrow designed to give a shock hard enough to knock even Thor unconscious. And right now, Clint had it aimed at Tony's ARC reactor. Clint released the arrow and both men watched as it forcefully hit the glass door. Electricity raced across the glass. Tony winced, knowing that if that had indeed hit him (before he turned down the intensity), he would have been knocked out or even worse, short circuited his reactor.

"Lock integrity down to 70%."

"Thanks, J," Tony sarcastically answered, glaring up to the monitor once again. Clint walked up to the door and placed a hand on the glass. Tony had specifically designed this door so that it didn't even look like there was anything there but with a command to JARVIS he could turn it opaque so that he could have his privacy. Clint smirked at it and looked into the lab. His blue eyes focusing on Tony's brown ones.

"With JARVIS hacked, I could open this door. Just a simple command. Better find a weapon, Stark," Clint taunted, relaxing back on his heels as he watched the billionaire. Tony winced again, reminded of the Manhattan attack and Clint's earlier attack on the Helicarrier. Clint wasn't just an archer. He had a military mind and he used it. Unbeknownst to the genius, the archer noticed the wince and also thought back to the incident and wondered if maybe this whole thing was actually a good idea.

Spinning around, Tony spotted something sitting on his lab desk. It was Natasha's Widow Bites. He had been working on them, trying to improve them for the spy. A few days after she had moved in, she mentioned that it would be nice to have a fast acting sleeping agent in her bites so that she could take a person alive, if needed. Tony took it upon himself to create one. He almost had it perfected now after going through nearly a year of testing and so he had taken her Widow Bites to fit the cartridge inside of the weapons. Smiling, Tony rushed over to his desk but before he reached it, he slipped. Reaching out with both hands he caught the edge of his desk and the edge of Bruce's closest desk. Both tables had vials on them that dropped to the floor and mixed. Thankfully none of them broke open.

"Don't kill yourself before I get in there!" Clint laughed even though his eyes showed concern for the genius. Tony shifted to his knees and glanced over at the archer. Clint kneeled on the floor and pulled out a set of lock picks, taking the slower route to break into the room. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Ha, ha," Tony growled, grabbing for the first vial he could find. He paused before hooking it up into the Widow Bite closest to him. Bruce, the day before, had asked Tony for some vials in order to store something he had been working on. Tony had handed over some extra ones from his pile without question. It was now, as he stared at the vial in his hands, that he wished that he had paid attention to what Bruce had been working on. The genius believed it had something to do with a time reversal serum, which he thought was ridiculous, so he must be wrong. But what Tony did remember was Bruce said the serum wasn't finished, so it should pose no danger to Clint if that's what he accidentally grabbed.

Tony loaded the vial into the closest Widow Bite and spun around. Clint, who had been on his knees a second before, was standing as the door slowly and menacingly opened. The archer was smiling, almost like he believed that Tony would put up a fight. Tony didn't wait a second. He lifted the Bite and pressed the newest button he installed to release a dart filled with the agent he had created. The dart landed in Clint's arm. Stumbling for a second in surprise, Clint looked down at it. For a moment the two just stared at it. That moment was broken when Clint looked back at Tony with a raised eyebrow.

"What was that supposed to do?" Clint questioned. Tony's shoulders dropped. Either he had used Bruce's serum or his sleeping agent didn't work. Figuring Bruce wouldn't have left his serum behind; Tony assumed his sleeping agent didn't work. Clint was now smirking in humor.

"Supposed to put you to sleep," Tony grunted, looking at the Widow Bite with disdain. He was certain that he and JARVIS had tested it well enough to know that it would work. What went wrong? Did it not go into the dart? Was it too weak? What? Clint nodded, accepting the answer with little more than that. He had no idea what Tony actually could have done to him.

"Be best to make sure it actually does work before trying it on an enemy. Wouldn't want them more ticked off at you then before," Clint suggested, humor tinting his voice. Tony sighed, agreeing with the archer. This day was just not his day.

"Yeah, that would have been smart," Tony muttered before dropping the Bite on his desk. Clint shifted to help Tony pick up all the items that had dropped off the two desks. Groaning, Tony leaned down as well. Absently, Tony noted that Clint didn't touch the vials, so instead he went for them and carefully handled them. "So, I lost again?"

"Basically. Good idea going to the lab, though," Clint replied. Tony nodded beginning to see why training like this was actually good. This was the tenth time Clint had run through an ‘attack’ on the tower. Only once had he been anywhere close to winning and that had been when Clint decided to let JARVIS help. "We should get you some trust worthy weapons though. That don't rely on JARVIS to use. We can hide them throughout the tower."

"What is with you hiding weapons everywhere? I don't need a gun under my pillow," Tony moaned, dropping down to sit at his desk. He turned to face his, laying the vials carefully down so as to not break any before slamming his head down onto the desk. Clint snorted, shifting to sit on the corner of Bruce's desk.

"Not a gun, a dagger. And you have no idea how many assassin sneak up on people in bed. May be cliché but it works," Clint responded. Tony groaned.

"So basically, I should be prepared to be killed or attacked in every room?"

"No, the kitchen is safe... Well, unless you run to it _while_ being attacked." Tony paused. He hadn't expected that. Slowly, he glanced over at Clint. Clint had a smile on his face, almost as if he was joking. Tony frowned.

"What?" he stammered. Clint smirked and stood up off the desk.

"The kitchen has too many dangers for a potential attacker. You got the knives, pots, pans, oven, stove, microwave, and other such things. Only a newbie or an idiot would _start_ an attack there," Clint explained. Tony chuckled as he thought about attacking an enemy with a butter knife and a frying pan. "If you can get a good enough head start on an attacker, the kitchen or the lab is the best place to make a stand."

"Then you get to tell Pepper it's okay for me to hoard food in here," Tony joked. Clint laughed, shaking his head. Tony glanced over at the archer, beginning to worry that he had actually used Bruce's serum and not his sleeping agent. It would have made him somewhat tired by now, even if it was a small dose. "Aren't you even the tiniest bit sleepy?"

"No," Clint muttered wondering if that was a good or a bad thing. Wanting to blow it off as nothing, Clint focused on the genius. He smiled. "Guess you suck at sleeping agents."

"Yeah, I guess," Tony mumbled as he picked up some of the vials that had dropped onto the ground. Clint had thought it best not to touch them so they were all where Tony left them on the desk. Tony knew that he had created four vials that he marked with a pink line down the side. He was currently holding two of them and there were three more vials on the desk.

"Well, if you got the rest of this, I'm gonna go check out the security plans for the lower floors. Wouldn't want an employee to get hurt when someone tries to attack us," Clint said before turning to leave. Tony nodded, not really listening to Clint anymore. Used to being blown off by the genius, Clint shrugged and left. Tony didn't even notice. Instead he focused on the remaining vials. Picking them up as carefully as he could, Tony sorted through them. Four vials had a pink line. Panicking, Tony emptied the vial from the Widow Bite. No pink line.

"Shit," Tony cursed. "J! We need to make sure this crap didn't work."

"I have numerous records of Dr. Banner's various tests. Not a single version, including this one, worked in the way he had hoped. If you wish, I can load the tests onto your tablet before I go into my mandatory maintenance shut down tonight," JARVIS answered. Tony froze.

"Oh shit, is that tonight?" Tony called having forgotten all about it.

"Yes, I have been reminding you for the past week," JARVIS smartly retorted. Tony snorted. It would be like him to forget and even worse, not pay attention to the AI.

"Do our other guests know?"

"I have informed them multiple times as well, sir. But many of them are out for the night."

"Good... Good..." Tony muttered as he looked the vials. He couldn't help but feel that something was going to happen. "I'm gonna work on this... Leave my stuff running when you shut down."

"Very well, sir. I shall inform, Miss Potts that you may not return to bed tonight."

\----------

Clint was only asleep for around an hour when his eyes snapped open. He knew this because he had gone to sleep at around 11... It was now 12:15. With a deep sigh, Clint wondered what made him wake. He couldn't remember having a nightmare. There was no tell-tale sign of that vertical dropping jump that sometimes wakes him. The room was silent and the perfect temp as usual. So what woke him?

A sharp pain pierced his side. Almost like someone snapped one of his ribs in half. Panicked, Clint reached for his side only to find that his arms wouldn't move. In fact, his whole body was frozen stiff. Every muscle was locked into position. Assessing himself, Clint realized he had curled into a fetal position. Frowning, Clint tried to remember why but before a thought could form, more pain ripped through his frame. Stunned at the force of it, he gasped.

"Ah!" he cried, his voice sounding different from before. It was almost higher pitched. More pain made the archer thankfully unfreeze. Sadly, he had to use that moment to curl up tighter. It was here that Clint noticed something weird. His pajamas felt really loose. Almost like he had lost ten or more pounds in the time he slept. Glancing down at his feet, he saw that his bottoms were dangling down over his toes. It was almost like he had somehow been shrunk. His mind flashed to his training exercise with Tony. ' _Stark! It had to be him!_ ' Clint angrily thought to himself as more pain spread through him. This time he really focused on it. The feeling was strange. Not just pain but almost like he could feel his body changing and adjusting. But to what it was changing to, Clint couldn't guess. But he knew who could. "JA... JARVIS!" Clint gasped, forgetting the AI was down for the night. "JARVIS!"

No answer. Clint moaned when a stronger pain flowed over him. He couldn't believe this. ' _Why can't JARVIS hear me?_ ' Clint desperately thought. For a moment he wished that Natasha hadn't gone off on her mission so that she'd be either sleeping next to him or he'd be in her room. It was here that Clint remembered what happened at dinner when Natasha left. JARVIS had mentioned that he was going to be in maintenance mode and unresponsive. ' _Of all freaking nights!_ ' Clint moaned. The pain was beginning to get worse. But Clint suddenly found he couldn't cry out. Actually, all his muscles seemed to have re-stiffened. He couldn't even breathe! ' _I'm gonna die!_ ' Clint mentally cried, trying to think of a way to let someone know he was in trouble. Sadly, there was no way now. Slowly, he began to black out. His body taking that moment to relax enough to spike in pain.

"Nat!" he croaked just before completely fading out.


	2. 24 Hours Prior

**ALMOST TWENTY - FOUR HOURS EARLIER**

Bruce was the first to wake up. It wasn't that unusual. Out of everyone, Bruce, Clint and Steve tended to trade off being the first ones awake. Today, Bruce won due to nervousness over visiting an old science friend. The doc had gotten in contact with this man over his experiment to get rid of Hulk (not that he was looking into getting rid of Hulk, but more for Abomination and anyone else who tried his serum). While Bruce was certain that his serum was right, it was too unstable. He couldn't tell if the serum would age him, turn him into a baby or worse, kill him outright. Never mind that JARVIS couldn't predict how Hulk would react to the serum. But, the man he was going to see had an idea on a final ingredient to stabilize the serum. Yawning, Bruce shook his head and entered the kitchen.

"JARVIS, please turn on the coffee machine," Bruce politely ordered. He didn't even look to see if the AI had done as asked. Without fail, JARVIS had always followed every order that anyone had given. So, without checking, Bruce got to work on the other items he needed for the communal breakfast that the Avengers enjoyed each morning. Bruce always enjoyed toast, scrambled eggs, and some fruit. Steve usually ate toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, and an apple or two. Clint was simple with scrambled eggs, bacon and a bagel. Natasha normally just had some fruit and toast. Occasionally she'd accept some eggs, sausage or bacon but never at the same time. Pepper would go for oatmeal with fruit and toast. Tony... Well, he tended to not eat but when he did, amazingly enough he stuck with berries. Thor was the biggest eater of all. Pancakes, waffles, pop tarts, sausage, bacon, eggs, toast, cereal, oatmeal and whatever else he could get the others to make. Thankfully he wasn't here so the menu was limited down.

"Good morning, Bruce," Steve called as he entered the room just as Bruce began working on the scrambled eggs for himself and Clint. Steve normally had his sunny side up and Bruce wasn't all that great at doing that but with proper experimentation time, Steve had learned how to. And the Captain’s cooking skills had increased a lot since joining the Avengers. Bruce nodded a welcome to the super solider as he worked on stirring up the still watery mix. Steve grabbed for some more eggs and went to work on his set. Thankfully Tony had redone the main kitchen when the others moved in to make it almost as large as a five star restaurant's. "I thought I'd be the first one up this morning."

"Yeah, well... Couldn't really sleep," Bruce admitted. Steve paused in his work, allowing an egg yolk to burst. Groaning, Steve started over. Bruce smiled at the solider as he cracked open a bunch more eggs for another few servings. Though the kitchen was huge, the pots and pans were normal sized and sometimes couldn't carry the load.

"Is it about your friend?" Steve questioned. Bruce sighed but nodded.

"I haven't seen him since long before Hulk. And now, out of the blue, he had something that could help me? It just..." Bruce trailed off, unsure what to say. Steve nodded, understanding what Bruce meant.

"You don't believe him?" Steve asked. Bruce paused, surprised that Steve hit at the heart of the issue. Slowly he sighed and then shrugged, turning to face the solider.

"I don't know. I... I've been betrayed so many times in the past. But... I just can't go around not trusting people for the rest of my life," Bruce mumbled. Steve frowned deeply. He didn't realize the amount damage that had been done to Bruce in his past. Who wouldn't believe their friends? Why would someone use that connection? While Steve knew that many of the members of the group had bad histories, there wasn’t much mention onto exact details.

"It's important to trust people," Steve replied, unsure how to respond. Bruce paused and wondered if the super solider meant the team or his old friend. Sighing, Bruce finished with the eggs and began to work on the bacon.

"Yeah, guess it is," Bruce muttered, still unsure who he meant. Steve smiled, almost as if he sensed what was bothering Bruce.

"Hey, don't worry. I'll be there too," Steve soothed. Bruce nodded. He had almost forgotten that Fury had ordered Steve to watch over Bruce. Apparently, Hulk had garnered a lot of attention lately, especially considering the green guy was part of the Avengers. Never mind that Bruce had mentioned the fact that he was worried about visiting this friend when he told the other about the meeting. It was then that Natasha entered the kitchen. Neither man had noticed that she dropped a rather full looking bag in the hall or that she was dressed in her S.H.I.E.L.D uniform.

"How long till breakfast?" she greeted as she moved toward the fridge to grab some fruit. Bruce turned to look at her and nodded a greeting. Steve paused in his egg making to smile warmly at her. Bruce focused on the amount of food that the duo had cooked before calculating the time left.

"Ten more minutes or so," Bruce estimated as Steve finished his eggs and began to work on the sausages. Nodding, she opened the fridge door. Scrounging around for a minute or too, she backed out with an apple in her mouth and another one in her hand. Bruce sighed. "Not joining us?"

"Got a mission brief in an hour," Natasha bemoaned, munching on the bite of apple that she had in her mouth. Steve frowned. The day before, Thor had returned to the tower, after visiting Jane Foster and claimed that he needed to visit Asgard and would not return for some time. Then Bruce had mentioned his meeting and Steve remembered volunteering to escort the good doctor. Now Natasha was leaving on a mission. Was someone trying to separate them all? And if so, why? What would happen if they all split up?

"I still work for S.H.I.E.L.D. You can't stop that," Natasha told Steve as she misunderstood his upset expression. Steve looked up at her in surprise. Did she really think that that was what was bothering him?

"I know!" Steve defended. His face turned to more perplexed. "But I just... Don't like the idea of us all splitting up right now."

"It's gonna happen. Nothing you can do about it," Natasha mentioned. Steve nodded, feeling like something was going to happen while he watched over Bruce. Natasha bit into her first apple and chewed on the fruit as she watched Steve. Bruce finished his last bit of food for breakfast and began shifting everything over to the table. At this point, Natasha might actually have time to join them in their meal.

"Can you tell us about this mission?" Steve inquired, finishing the last bit of his own cooking. Natasha frowned, biting into her apple again to delay her answer. She thought about it before shaking her head no. Steve understood but didn't like it one bit. He was the leader of the Avengers. He should know what they are doing and where they were all going to be. "How long will you be gone?"

"A week if we're lucky. If not, maybe a month or two," Natasha admitted. Steve nodded, really not liking the time table that she gave. Figuring the conversation was done and knowing that she had to get going soon, she backed up toward the hall. "Well, I better get going."

"Bye," Steve and Bruce called together as Natasha turned around and ran right into a still half asleep Clint. Surprised, Clint shot out with the heel of his palm aiming straight at Natasha's jaw. She dodged before grabbing Clint's wrist. Spinning it and themselves around, Natasha pinned Clint to the nearest wall with his arm behind his back.

"You awake now?" Natasha muttered into Clint's ear. Clint nodded. She hesitated for only a moment before releasing him. Once free, Clint shifted to look at her while holding his now red wrist. Natasha waved to her ears, making sure that the archer's hearing aids were actually on and it wasn’t that Clint felt the vibrations of her voice on his back. Since the surgery that Fitz and Simmons had given the archer for the ‘built’ in aids, Clint hadn’t had to worry about losing his hearing. But, they also had an on/off function so he could rest his ears if needed, which he had taken to doing around the tower when the whole gang was inside. Clint nodded again pouting as he wished that he had been more aware of what was going on around him.

"Sorry," he mumbled, sounding pretty much like crap. Natasha shrugged it off but looked him over. It looked like he was suffering from a hangover or something. Figuring that Steve and Bruce could deal with the archer fine, she turned and grabbed her bag. Clint frowned at the rather heavy looking object. "Mission?"

"Yep," she answered before heading toward the elevator. Pressing the down button, she then turned to Clint as she waited. Clint sighed. This day was so not turning out how he had hoped.

"See ya," he said as the doors opened. She nodded before entering and watched him turn toward the kitchen as the doors closed. Clint moaned to himself as he headed into the kitchen, bypassed Bruce and Steve before entering the sitting area and plopping himself down. Steve and Bruce just ignored it as they continued to put the food down on the table. Once done, they joined him. Slowly, the duo began filling up their own plates but they watched as Clint didn't do the same. A few minutes passed as Bruce and Steve enjoyed breakfast until finally, Bruce looked to Steve to see if the solider had noticed that Clint wasn't eating.

"Clint, are you feeling well?" Bruce wondered, ever the doctor even if that actually wasn't his field of study and considering Clint’s personal history, it was always good to ask. Jerked out of his thoughts, Clint looked up at the doc and nodded. Bruce's frown deepened when the archer didn't actually speak. It had only been a few months since Clint's recent brush with death. And about a month where Clint had opened up to everyone but since then... He seemed rather reluctant to stay open. "You going to eat?

"Uh... Not really hungry," Clint admitted but to sooth the doc, he grabbed an extra slice of toast. Bruce and Steve decided to let the subject die there. Something was wrong, they just didn't know what.

"So, it's just you and Tony for a couple of days," Steve mentioned, trying to start a conversation with the archer. Clint looked at him in surprise. Slowly, Steve could see realization dawn on him. With Thor in Asgard, Natasha having just left on a mission, and Steve escorting Bruce to see his old friend, that just left the genius and Clint.

"Oh... Huh," Clint mumbled, already formulating plans in his head as to what to do. Nothing seemed right.

"Gonna do anything special?" Steve inquired, knowing that Clint was already planning things. Clint shrugged as his mind was working slower than normal.

"Hadn't really thought of anything," Clint said, having yet to form a full plan in his head. Steve nodded.

"Why not try some training?" Steve suggested. Bruce snorted, an image of Tony in the Iron Man armor dodging arrows as Clint kept a rapid fire pace forming in his mind. Steve smiled as Clint's face lit up. Apparently, the archer had a similar image. Or something a bit more detrimental to Tony's health.

"Training? Yeah!" Clint called, sounding rather maniacal. Bruce and Steve traded looks as they wondered if this was a good idea. A large smiled formed on Clint's face as he finally began to load his plate up with food. Training required energy. To get energy, he needed to eat. Steve frowned. Maybe this was the bad feeling he was getting. And dang it all, he started it. "Could be a lot of fun."

\----------

Tony ended up waking at seven o'clock to a cold shudder. Something that normally never happened in his temperature controlled living spaces. Frowning, he mentally inspected himself. He didn't feel sick, just cold. With a soft moan, he shifted around, attempting to find some trace of warmth but nothing came. Opening his eyes, Tony discovered he was lying on his bed in just his boxers. But the genius was certain that he had covered himself with sheets and blankets before sleeping. Glancing over, Tony was shocked to see coppery red hair spilling out from a large bundle of blankets beside him. This was a sight he wasn't used to seeing. Pepper wasn't one to steal blankets. In fact, she actually normally slept under a different set from Tony as he had to have a thicker set to keep the Arc reactor from lighting up the room. Yet here it was, displayed out in the open. And Pepper was curled, face down on the bed. Tony frowned.

"Pep?" Tony grunted as he crossed his arms to try and warm himself. Something must have happened to JARVIS for the temp control to stop working. Pepper didn't move at the sound of his voice. Frowning, Tony nudged her with his elbow. Technically, it was rare for him to see her in the morning so he actually didn't know she wasn't a morning person. His greeting was a groan of anger that was filled with sleep. He blinked rapidly in surprise. Before bed, Pepper had mentioned to Tony that JARVIS better be online in the morning to wake her as she had an important meeting at eight. A quick glance at the illuminated clock on the other side of the blanket hut showed it was near that time. "Pepper?"

"What?" came the grumbled groan. Tony smiled at the sound. It sounded so much like him. How he so wanted to make fun of her right now even though he knew it wouldn't be right. No need to press his luck. He knew how cranky he could get in the morning, who knew how bad she could get, especially when running late.

"Uh... It's 7:40," Tony mentioned. Pepper shot up so fast that the blankets were tossed to the end of the bed. Tony mentally moaned at the loss of the sheets but didn't comment on it. Felt it was best to keep silent especially at Pepper's girlish ear splitting screech.

"Oh my god! Why didn't JARVIS wake me? I need to shower, dress, do my makeup, do my hair..." Pepper trailed off as she rushed to stand. It was after her scream of shock that Tony began to wish he had carpeted his floor rather than used hard wood. She jumped back onto the bed and sent an accusatory glare at Tony. "What happened? What is going on? Why is it freezing?"

"Something happened to JARVIS. I have to get down to my lab," Tony answered but as he looked to the floor, he groaned. He really didn't want to step foot on that really cold floor. But considering he was already cold, Tony figured it wouldn't be too much of an issue. Slowly, he stepped onto the floor and was amazed when he felt no difference between that and the air. Nodding to himself in a rather pleased manner, Tony stood up and headed toward the door to their room. Pepper frowned at him leaving in just his boxers but knew Tony wouldn't really dress himself even if she asked. At least no one was really in the towers to see him except her.

"When will JARVIS be back online?" Pepper meekly called from the bed. Already she could mentally hear the demands of other employees and members from her meeting insisting she give them an answer. Since none of them tended to deal with Tony, Pepper could already feel a headache forming. She knew Tony wouldn't commit to an actual time line but she had to try. Tony glanced back at her and shrugged. He really wouldn't know until he went down to his lab and checked everything out. She sighed at him.

"Could be an hour, could be tomorrow. Don't really know. Depends on what happened," Tony told her. Pepper nodded, figuring that would be her answer. Timidly she moved to stand up herself. Tony snorted at the shudder that ran through her frame as she draped her feet on the hardwood floor. "I'll tell you after your meeting!"

"Okay," Pepper said, knowing that she'd have to find Tony to get the answer after the meeting. Tony always forgets what he tells her. She didn't even notice Tony slip out of the room with a nod as he headed down to his lab to start work. Slowly, she stood up, her thin nightgown letting in more of the cold air than she expected. Another chill ran up her spine but a glance at the clock on her nightstand told her that she couldn't wait. She had to shower, now. If only JARVIS was online to try and delay the meeting by an hour or more...

\----------

A floor above, Clint cuddled down into a blanket bundle. Every blanket he had in his room normally laid beneath him on the bed but in his sleep, Clint had unconsciously moved each one above him. Now he lay curled up in a little ball trying to stay warm. A cough escaped his lips but it was still rather light and so he didn't wake. He just curled up on himself some more. If JARVIS was active, the AI would be putting a call into Banner for Clint was beginning to show signs of a fever. Course, that wouldn't be the only reason JARVIS would call Bruce. But sadly, JARVIS was still down. Another cough racked through Clint and his lungs crackled as he inhaled afterwards. Groaning, he rolled over, making sure that his blanket fort still covered him. Snuggling down, Clint tried his hardest to get warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darius is doing well. A pain in the butt, but well. My main thing going on with him now is that he seriously won't let me type, EVER! And when hubby is home I think, I can type now, the TV gets put on and distracts me. Can't catch a break. Not that my mind has seriously been able to focus on writing anything. Why can't things be easier?


	3. Oh Crap

JARVIS's issue ended up being a bigger deal than Tony had originally thought. In the end, he figured that in the maintenance mode, JARVIS may have accidentally messed up some of his coding. And while that was slightly true, Tony also found some smoking circuitry. Clint's electrical arrow had more punch to it then Tony had planned for. The electricity had raced through the lab door and into JARVIS's main circuit board. Considering how old some of the circuits were, they burst. An issue that wouldn't have happened until... Well, until JARVIS went to maintenance mode and tested each circuit like he was programmed too. Maintenance mode alerted JARVIS ans Tony of the need to replace anything old or damaged in the entire tower.

So now, Tony got to spend his lovely, freezing cold, morning going through all of JARVIS's circuits and replacing each and every one of them. While it would have been simple to fix just the damaged ones, Clint's training had proved that Tony had to step up his game and be prepared for shit like this. God forbid someone had tried to attack last night. Tony paused in his work.

"Great, now he's got _me_ all fricken paranoid!" Tony grumbled. Even though he wasn't pleased with the idea, Tony continued to find himself thinking of all the different safety parameters that he'd have to change or even create to protect everyone and everything in the tower. It was almost just exhausting thinking of it all, never mind actually doing it. “JARVIS, take not... Oh...”

Tony couldn’t help but wince. He did rely on JARVIS for far too many things. With a sigh, Tony shook his head and continued replacing JARVIS's circuits. The genius was two hours into work before Pepper came into the lab. She was still dressed from the meeting but she also had a small scarf wrapped around her neck. In her hands was a thick heavy blanket which she draped over Tony's still bare back. He hadn't even noticed that he was still in his boxers and was shaking from the chill.

"It's still cold here," Pepper moaned as a greeting. The genius paused to realize what had happened. He was suddenly a little warmer but he hadn't done anything to make that happen. Glancing around, he noticed Pepper standing behind him. She looked cold and slightly ticked off. His mind filtered what she had just said and he almost snapped at her. All morning he had been getting pissed off. Pissed at JARVIS for choosing this night to go into maintenance mode, pissed that it was the middle of November, and so much more. So, knowing his snark back at her would be worse than normal, Tony just took a breath and then dove back into the wires. Pepper waited a minute. "Having a hard time?"

"Just tedious work," Tony grunted as he tossed a bunch of wires that had melded together toward the trash. Pepper frowned as it missed the bin. Dum-e quickly shifted forward the grab the bundle and proudly tossed it into the bin. Pepper smiled at the little bot. She was slightly thankful that the three bots that Tony had didn't run off the same system as JARVIS. It would have been really upsetting if anything happened to them again. Hell, the duo had done a little funeral for them after the Mandarin had destroyed the Malibu house and done a lot of damage to the bots then. Thankfully, Tony had later been able to go down into the ocean and rescue them. "Gonna take some time."

"How much?" Pepper asked, knowing that her office phone was filled with complaints about the temp and how long it was taking to restore JARVIS. Tony glanced back at her. His face now twisted in anger. She shrugged trying to show that she could care less. The two stared at each other for a minute or so before Tony sighed, he knew it wasn't really her asking but it was her mentioning it. "Got some complaints."

Tony knew she was downplaying the actual amount of complaints. As much as she didn't know, her phone was hooked up to a separate e-mail account that he had loaded up on a tablet that sat beside him. This tablet was also the main connection he had with JARVIS. Each message on her phone went straight to this account and shifted to text format. Tony would then read each and every one during times that he was bored or out of ideas in the lab. Not that it took him much time to read the complaints as he worked right now. Especially seeing as most complaints were pretty much word for word the same thing. It just got aggravating that a lot of employees thought that Tony was sitting on his ass, not doing a damned thing about it.

"Well, sorry. Can't do much about that. Going as fast as I can. Two more hands would help. Or maybe four. Yeah... That Doc Ock really had a good idea. Cept when he turned evil. That wasn't good..." Tony trailed on, talking more and more about Doctor Octavius as his voice dropped into a mumble. Pepper shook her head, knowing that Tony would be on this topic for a while now. Thankfully, while he spoke, he continued working. Pepper silently watched the genius work. Within seconds, she got confused as to what the billionaire was doing. Knowing she couldn't be of help, she sat down on a nearby chair and watched. Sensing her watching him, Tony turned to look at her after finishing his rant. "You gonna lend a hand?"

"And do what?" Pepper countered. Tony looked back at his work with a frown. He couldn't even trust his bots to help him with this work. How could he trust Pepper, a woman who never worked with his machines? With a sigh of resignation, Tony realized he was basically on his own. In the amount of time it would take for him to tell Pepper what to do, he'd have already finished four things. Behind him, Pepper smiled. Things usually worked out easier for Tony when he worked out the problem on his own. If you explained it for him, he tried to argue with you for hours until he finally saw your point. But if you waited a few minutes and let him figure it out on his own, you'd save yourself some time and frustration. Pepper learned that very quickly on in their relationship.

The two continued to silently do what they were doing. Tony worked on fixing JARVIS and Pepper watched him. It didn't take much longer before Tony began to feel the prickling of Pepper's stare beginning to bother him. Considering how much was already bothering him, he didn't want to say something to her that he'd regret. So, he needed to get rid of her.

"Why don't you go check on our house guests?" Tony suggested, rolling his shoulders to show her his agitation at her watching him. Pepper stiffened and looked away from the genius. She hadn't heard from any of the other Avengers and it hadn't dawned on her till Tony said something. But as she thought about why not, she remembered. Everyone had left the night before. Everyone but her, Tony and...

"Have you seen Clint?" Pepper questioned just as Tony began working on the last circuit. He paused for only a moment before it clicked into place. Right away the heat kicked on and the tablet beside Tony began to rapidly fill with code. Forgetting what Pepper had asked, Tony clapped his hands together in a wiping manner as if cleansing himself of the situation. Knowing that it'd take another few minutes before JARVIS finished restarting, Tony turned to Pepper. He gave her a satisfied smirk that was returned with a worried look. Frowning, he looked around to see what was wrong. Not figuring it out, he focused on her again.

"What?"

"Clint?" she pressed. Tony's frown deepened. He hadn't seen him since... He shot the archer with Banner's serum! And if JARVIS had been down, there was no way that Tony would know if something had happened to the archer! Without a word of explanation to Pepper, Tony raced off in the direction of the stairs. Pepper jumped to her feet and looked off in the direction that the genius had rushed off to. "Tony? Tony!"

\----------

While Tony and Pepper conversed, upstairs Clint groaned as he finally began to wake. His whole body ached like he had been in a three day long fight but at the same time it tingled as if everything had relaxed to the point that the blood stopped flowing. But most of all, he felt cold. Peering his eyes open, Clint noticed a small slit in his bundle of blankets. Reaching out with a small hand, Clint closed the gap without even noticing the difference in size. Sighing as some of the cold vanished, he tried to go back to sleep when something began to tickle his chest. But Clint didn't fully realize what was happening until he fell into a long coughing fit the had him gasping for air like a fish out of water. In shock, Clint sharply sat up to try and get air. He was so stunned and taken aback by the coughs that he didn’t notice he could hear them. The blankets fell off his racking frame and draped around his waist and lap, covering the small mess of wires that slid off his nearest pillow. Last time he had gotten caught ill without any warning signs, he had been nearly six years old.

As he coughed, a loud crashing noise happened over by his front door. Wishing he could cry out for help, Clint continued to gasp on his bed as his body continued to suck in air just in time to quickly cough it out. Another loud crash meant that someone had busted through the door and Clint was certainly pleased when Tony and Pepper appeared at the doorway from his living room to his bedroom. Tony froze in the door but Pepper frantically pushed past and dropped onto the bed behind Clint. She began mixing a rub and pat on his back to help soothe his coughing.

A minute or two later, Clint's coughing calmed down. Grateful for being able to breathe, Clint leaned back into Pepper, not noticing the sudden height difference between them. Pepper stiffened slightly at the act but relaxed slowly as she continued to rub the archer's back. Biting her lip, she looked up at Tony. The genius’s eyes were blown wide in shock and terror as he stared at the sight before him. It was because of this that Pepper knew she wasn't imagining what she was seeing as well. But neither said anything considering Clint apparently had no idea what had happened to him.

"Thanks," Clint croaked, his voice cracking not only because of his coughing but because of what had happened to him the night before. Pepper nodded while staring down at Clint with a mix of surprise, fear, and worry. Too distracted by the appearance of his friends in his room to look down at his frame, Clint focused his attention on Tony. "Man, why is it so cold?"

"Cl... Clint?" Tony shockingly called as he stared at the maybe 4 year old form in front of him. Clint frowned, confused at the question. Slowly, he nodded, wondering if Tony hit his head on something before barging into his room. Pepper raised a hand to her mouth in an effort to stifle her own gasp of surprise at the admission. It had been obvious that this young boy must have been Clint as the kid was in the archer’s room but with JARVIS down, neither Tony or Pepper could deny the possibility of someone breaking in. Clint turned to her at the noise before looking back at Tony. Feeling a bit self-conscious now, Clint scrambled out of bed, pushing his sheets aside but tripped on his pajama bottoms and face-planted into the ground. Groaning, Clint turned around to look at the ceiling.

"Ow... What the-" Clint grumbled before stopping. He looked down at his legs and noticed how they were tangled in his clothing and how the pants were hanging by his ankles. Quickly kicking them off, Clint scurried to his feet and stared down at his shorter body. Pepper blushed and looked away quickly before realizing that Clint's pajama top was big enough to cover his small frame down to his knees. Stunned, she slid off the bed and dropped to her knees beside Clint. No one spoke as Clint looked up at her and realized that on her knees, she was as tall as him. Outraged, Clint turned to Tony. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"Me? Why me? Why not you?" Tony accused as if it made a difference who caused this. Clint stared at the genius in a sort of stunned silence before another cough escaped his lips. He shook his head a bit, trying to clear whatever was coming up. It was a mistake as he suddenly became dizzy. Ignoring the rest of what was going on, Pepper raised a hand to Clint's forehead while catching the archer before he fell over.

"Oh my god! You're burning up!" Pepper declared. Clint shrugged, still not used to being worried about what he was sick with. No, right now he was focused onto why he was a young boy once again.

"Wait? So, he's sick and a kid?" Tony moaned. Pepper nodded as Clint suddenly seemed to change colors and rush into his bathroom. The door slammed shut but moments later the other two could hear the tell-tale sounds of vomiting. Tony winced. "Natasha's gonna kill me."

Pepper frowned at her boyfriend before going over to the door. There was still sounds of vomiting mixing in with sounds of coughing. She sighed deeply, wondering what to do. Depending on Clint's new age, his body may not be up to handling whatever he may have. And already the Avengers had once had to deal with Clint getting three (actually four) illnesses all at the same time. God-forbid that happened again. She knocked lightly just as there was a loud sound of a toilet flushing. Knowing her knock was covered by the sound, she knocked again.

"Yeah?" came the muted call back. Pepper tested the handle and found the door wasn't even locked. Slowly, she entered. First thing she noticed was the rancid smell of vomit that now emanated from the small room. Thankfully she had gotten used to the scent mostly thanks to the various times of having to deal with Tony's many hungover experiences but she still grimaced. Behind her Tony grimaced but he locked his knees so he didn’t run.

"You okay?" she asked the archer in a soft voice one might hear from a worried adult to a child. Hardly paying attention to her ton, Clint glanced down at the toilet before his body. Mentally, he wasn’t truly fine. He had somehow been de-aged. Physically, he still felt overworked, was beginning to feel the heat from the fever, his throat was sore now and a cough was getting ready to start. He swallowed the feeling down, forcing himself to not.

"Other than being six years old again?" Clint moaned, leaning against the sink cabinet. Pepper frowned, getting to her feet to grab a facecloth and wet it. Tony appeared behind Pepper in the doorway a second later. His eyes quickly scanned Clint over again. In his head, Clint still looked something like four. Maybe five.

"How can you tell that you're six?" he questioned. Clint looked up at the genius.

"The scars," he replied softly, lifting his arm to show a rather freshly reddened cut. Then he frowned before once again looking himself over. Slowly, he shifted his overly large pajama top to check on some important areas, careful to not flash Pepper as he did so. Seconds before Pepper leaned forward with a facecloth to wipe off the small traces of vomit, Clint spotted one particular scar which was there but the one that was beside it was not. “Looks like I’m nearing seven.”

Tony winced, remembering when Clint briefly described his past to the other Avengers. Pepper hadn't been involved during that but Tony had gotten Clint's permission to tell her. Her eyes softened even more in sadness as she cleaned the archer. Clint made a face at her and got to his feet, snatching the cloth from her hands. She rolled her eyes even as Clint tossed the cloth into the sink only to second later dramatically drop back onto the floor in a heavy coughing fit. Pepper rushed to his side. As it continued, Pepper and Tony could hear Clint harshly gasping between coughs, hardly able to get any air in his system before the next one. When he started to turn a bright red, Pepper looked to Tony.

"Tony! We have to do something!" she cried. Tony froze, his mind emptying of anything that he could possibly do.

"What? What do we do?" Tony answered back. Pepper glanced down at Clint as he coughed up something brown. Neither one could tell if he coughed up something he vomited, something from his lungs or dried up blood. Either way, the duo knew they couldn't deal with this on their own. They needed professional help.

"We have to bring him to a hospital!" Pepper declared. Tony nodded. He totally agreed with that. It was a perfect idea.

"Hospital... Yeah, hospital," Tony mimed but still stood in the door. Clint coughed again, sounding rather wet before it morphed into another vomiting spell where the dinner from the night before splattered all over the bathroom floor. Tony grimaced at the sight but didn't move. Pepper gagged a little at the sight and smell but noticed Tony hadn't moved. How a child’s vomit was worse than an adults, Pepper didn’t know but for once in years, it was beginning to phase her.

"Tony!" she shouted. Tony looked at her before realizing he should look up the closest hospital and get a car ready to transport them to it.

"Right!" he muttered before spinning around and headed into Clint's living room. Luckily, Tony had made sure to set up each apartment with their own computer so all he had to do was turn that on. It booted up rather quickly and Tony began loading pages as fast as he could. (JARVIS was still technically done due to a secondary maintenance check.)

Meanwhile, Pepper watched in misery as Clint kept switching between coughing and vomiting on the floor. She rubbed his back and tried to forget the tears that she saw drifting down his face as his body kept basically rejecting everything. It wasn't long after Tony left that Clint began to calm down. He would continue to randomly dry heave, but Pepper chalked that up to leaning over his still warm vomit. Slowly, he leaned back and sighed. The tears still leaking down his face.

"You good to move?" Pepper softly asked. Clint slowly nodded. With her help, he got to his feet and the two left the bathroom. She only let go for a second to turn back and close the bathroom door cutting off the intense smell. Feeling better in the fresher air, Clint dropped down onto his bed. Seeing that he was fine, she drifted over toward his closet.

"My clothes are in the dresser," Clint told her before she even had a chance to open the doors. Frowning at the closet, Pepper wondered what actually was in there before heading over to the dresser that the small boy pointed too. "Not like any of it will fit right now."

"Well, we need something in order to bring you to the doctors," Pepper declared as she removed a random black tee and dingy dark shorts. She glanced at the other drawers, wondering if she should grab him some underwear or let him go commando.

"Belts are in the bottom on the right," Clint mumbled as he dropped backwards on the bed, wincing when he felt something. Pepper looked back at the archer worried. His face was beginning to flush and he looked like he was going to be sick again. Going a little faster than before, she grabbed the drawer top and opened it enough to see a belt and pull it out. She only had three seconds of wondering how to dress Clint before Tony came back into the room.

"I found a hospital!" he cried as Clint pulled a mess of wires and items from the bed. The archer frowned at it before realizing it was the hearing aids that had been surgically implanted in his head. He reached for his ears in surprise. That was interesting. There was no markings back there. His hearing had completely returned. Mentally he let out a chuckle even as he coughed a few times. At least he didn’t have to worry about that stuff messing with whatever was happening to his body. But... It also more than likely meant that when he returned to normal, he’d have to do the surgery all over again. Damn it. Meanwhile, Pepper looked at Tony before smiling. The genius watched as she thrusted the clothes into his hands. Tony grabbed onto them and gave her a confused look. "What are these for?" He looked between her and Clint as Clint looked back at him before realization dawned on both men. Clint started chuckling lightly before coughing a few times. Just another piece of embarrassment to add to the continuing to grow list. "Ah, hell no!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Clint has been found.
> 
> Darius is doing good. Visited his school today to discuss actually putting him in rather than leaving things to online learning. Have to wait a week due to topic choice and me feeling uncomfortable with the idea of possibly putting the teachers in a hard spot. They're going to be talking about families and I really, really, really don't want the teachers or even parents of the other children asking about death. It was bad enough when Darius announced it to his current classmates. And it was certainly devastating to all the teachers and children that had been attending when Clint attended. But yet again, it was reinforced by the teachers there that when Clint actually went to school that day, he did not sound _AT ALL_ like he had croup. That is what cause of death says it is though. Just wish the docs warned me that it could be life threatening if it got worse and I regret every day not getting him checked a second time.
> 
> Sorry for the depressing note... (BTW, for those who may not know, Clint is my five year old son who passed away in 2018)


	4. Should Have Expected

Needless to say, Tony did end up having to help Clint dress. Thankfully, as the archer still had his memory and dignity, Clint was smart enough to do the shorts (which looked like ill fighting pants) first, belt second and shirt (more like ‘dress’ as it was so large) last so that Tony didn't actually see anything that would be embarrassing to either Avenger. Considering how often the boy coughed, Tony found he was rather much needed to help steady him and rub the archer's back. It took less than five minutes to dress Clint but even that much work seemed to have winded his younger, sick body. Tony just stood off to the side as he watched his friend try to catch his breath. The archer leaned against the wall, trying to act as if he didn't need it to help stand. Tony raised an eyebrow as Clint just glared at the floor.

"God, I hate this," Clint moaned after a bit. Tony nodded, wishing there was something he could do to help. Helping to fix a computer issue, or fixing a car, or hell, even buying things, Tony could easily do all that. But healing someone who is sick, or even figuring out how Clint changed into a kid again, Tony couldn't fully figure out on his own. Slowly, the boy looked up to face the genius. His blue eyes looked glazed but tired and stressed. Tony winced in sympathy. As Clint spoke, his head dropped to face the ground again. "I mean, honestly, why is it always me? Why do I always get tortured? What did I do to deserve all this?"

"Don't know. Maybe someone out there really likes you?" Tony joked. Clint raised an eyebrow as he looked back up at the genius. Tony shrugged as the boy dropped into a couple of coughs that left him gasping for breath. Moving forward to follow Pepper's normal soothing methods, Tony began rubbing Clint's back. The genius frowned as he realized he could basically feel Clint's bones underneath his skin and shirt. He hadn't paid any attention to Clint’s body when he was dressing him but now he almost wished he had. Clint’s body had literally changed the archer to his six year old self. Nothing from his adulthood came with the body outside of the memories. "Whoa, calm down."

"I'm good," Clint croaked after a minute more of coughing. Tony nodded, unsure if he believed the six year old or not. Just for good measure, Clint's body betrayed him and coughed. Tony snorted but backed away as Clint flipped him off. Figuring that Clint knew his body better than Tony ever would, Tony tilted his head to one side.

"You good to head downstairs?" Clint nodded at this before slowly beginning to stand. Tony had to help him to his feet but once they did, Tony began encouraging Clint toward the elevator. Before they could even make it out of Clint's apartment, a voice called out to them. Clint stopped at the sound, curious as to what it was. Tony stopped as well, thinking it had more to do with Clint's illness than to it was the voice.

"Sir, I am receiving an elevated temp-" JARVIS suddenly supplied but stopped when Tony began tutting at the AI. Clint arched an eyebrow at the sudden interference from the AI. The newly turned boy had no idea why it had taken so long for JARVIS to suddenly notice. He actually hadn't been paying much attention to it. Neither Avenger really noticed that they stopped just inside the door to Clint's apartment/room.

"All ready know J. Bringing Clint to a hospital to get it checked on. A little slow this morning," Tony told the AI, mentally thankfully that JARVIS was at least back online. Clint smirked at the interaction. Realizing that Clint wasn't fully informed as to what happened to JARVIS, Tony looked down at the kid. JARVIS quickly went through Clint's computer's history to find the hospital information that Tony had found. The AI checked out the reviews and made sure it was good enough for the group to travel as Tony and Clint continued speaking. "J broke last night during some routine maintenance check. That's why it was cold this morning."

"Ah," Clint replied as if it made a difference to him. Right now, he could feel another large bout of coughing trying to inch its way up. He was holding back to try and at least make it to the elevator.

"I am now running at full capacity. Normal room temperature has been achieved in each room. Defense system is back online. I am now checking on all lost data and recovering what I can," JARVIS informed the two. Clint whistled in an effort to show he was impressed with the amount of work that JARVIS had already done. Tony smiled, glad that it seemed only the AI's circuits that had gotten damaged and not the code. JARVIS was too important to his life. No, it was more like the AI was Tony's life. "Shall I cancel the medical call to Dr. Bruce Banner?"

"Yes! Hell, YES!" Tony shouted to the AI. Clint frowned but was quickly forced to cover his mouth in a coughing fit that ended with a loud sneeze. Tony glanced down at Clint in surprise as Clint gave him a sheepish shrug. "Bless you."

"What's wrong with Bruce?" Clint grumbled. Tony smirked, forgetting that basically only he, Bruce and Pepper knew about JARVIS's instructions.

"After last time when you got sick, JARVIS started monitoring all our vitals. When he deems something wrong with anybody, he calls Bruce to let the doc analyze the data. If Bruce thinks that something is indeed wrong, then whoever needed is called by JARVIS to get to whoever is in need," Tony said. Clint groaned at knowing this was because of him. Just cause Natasha had told them that he tended to ignore issues until it was either too late, or too big. And the fact that he almost died close to a month prior, hence why his hearing had been lost. Tony snorted. "If it makes you feel better, Pepper made the program to originally watch me. She wanted someone to make sure I was partly taking care of myself. Once Bruce moved in and found out about it, he changed it to watch everyone. It was after you that the program changed to call Bruce rather than Peps."

"I thought only you controlled JARVIS." Tony laughed. Most people tended to assume that.

"I run his code. That's about it. He's an AI. So you ask him to make sure you train for four hours a day, JARVIS writes his own program to make sure you don't go over or under that many hours a day."

"So, anyone can ask him to do something?" Clint coughed, honestly curious. Tony nodded.

"As long as it does not break my prime directives, and Sir allows it, I aim to serve," JARVIS called. Clint raised an eyebrow at that and somehow that was all JARVIS needed to know before continuing. "I will not hurt Sir, Miss Potts, or other guests of Stark Towers or other properties that I have been installed into. I will not do illegal actions unless for the betterment of my approved list or Sir demands it of me. I will not act on my own unless it interferes with my other rules. I will not go 'Skynet'. I will not shut down the internet, no matter how much Sir says it will be fun."

"Skynet? Really?" Clint laughed which turned into another small coughing fit. Tony shrugged.

"Happy got worried one night. All of those are written into his code so many times that even I can't change it. You would not believe how long it took to get all that in there," Tony declared as he suddenly realized that Clint needed to get downstairs. Knowing that JARVIS could continue speaking to them the entire way down, Tony slowly began to move Clint toward the elevator. "That's why whenever Pepper wants me to install a new directive, I try to fight her to make sure it's really for the best."

"When did you create JARVIS?" Clint wondered aloud. Tony smirked. This was his most favorite part about the AI's history. No one tended to believe it. Hell, there were even still many nights that he didn't believe it.

"At MIT. It was my final term. Can you believe he only got a B plus? I almost made Obie sue," Tony joked before sobering at the old man's name. Clint winced, having forgotten about Tony's own haunted history. Neither said a word as they boarded the elevator and descended. When they reached the proper floor, the doors opened to an angry Pepper Potts. She stood there in such a way that both Avengers almost wished they could turn and hide.

"What took so long?" she demanded. Tony pointed to Clint while Clint pointed at Tony. Pepper's eyes narrowed as she waited for one of them to own up. Neither did. With a deep sigh, she shook her head and rushed them into the waiting car. Happy had one second to glance back at them curiously before Clint began coughing and wheezing. "Step on it!"

\----------

"Where were you supposed to meet your friend?" Steve called to Bruce for the second time as the duo slipped past a crowd eagerly waiting for some sort of display. Bruce shrugged. His communications with his old friend ended after the doc had agreed to go to the convention to meet him. Bruce almost wondered if his friend thought this place wouldn't be as crowded as it was. No one really expected a science convention to get all that popular. But when Stark Industries announced that they had a few tables (well actually it was more like half a room), people jumped at the idea of going. "You have any way of contacting him?"

"No. He just said we'd meet here," Bruce loudly said to Steve over the sudden screams of an excited group near a Stark Industries table. Bruce glanced over and saw Tony's face on a screen talking. He remembered the genius creating videos a couple weeks back but never knew what they were for. Apparently, it had been for this. Steve winced at the noise, for the first time, wishing he never had super hearing. A large group of people then pushed their way between the two Avengers.

Steve focused on Bruce to make sure he was still basically following the doctor but when he crashed into someone, he was forced to look away. Bruce continued walking for a bit before realizing that something was wrong. Looking back, he noticed that Steve was splitting off from him and the solider was focused on his own path rather than the doc's. Another crowd merged into this one and Bruce began to feel slightly claustrophobic as he wondered if Hulk would consider any of this a threat. Backing away from the crowd and into a small aisle built between stands, Bruce began to relax and hear something familiar. It was his phone. Wondering if it was his friend, even though he never handed out his number, Bruce answered without looking. "Hello?"

"Dr. Bruce Banner," a voice from behind him greeted. Bruce stiffened as he felt something stick into his back as the words were being spoken. It felt familiar and it took till Hulk unhappily growled for Bruce to realize it was a gun. Lowering the phone from his ear, Bruce looked down to see if it connected with whoever was calling. It read that the call had ended but that it had been made from Stark Towers, otherwise known as JARVIS. Oh how he so wished that it had stayed connected. Even if JARVIS just listened and didn't speak. Which the AI was smart enough to realize he should do after a few seconds of listening and using the connection to check Bruce’s heart rate. "It would be very nice for all these innocent people if you kept calm and followed me."

"And you are?" Bruce countered, his eyes rapidly flicking over the crowd in search of Steve. Considering that both Avengers hadn't really been watching each other, it was no surprise that the super solider was nowhere in sight. It was now that Bruce was starting to see the trap snapping closed. A crowded convention, an old friend knowing just what he needed, no certain meeting point, no contact... For an unselfish moment, Bruce wondered if they had attacked his friend. "Is my friend still alive?"

"The solider or the scientist?" the person replied, ignoring the first question entirely. Bruce almost felt Hulk take over at the implication that Steve might be dead. "Don't worry. They both are fine. Hell, your 'Friend' doesn't even know you're here. The e-mails were sent by the group I represent."

"And who is that?"

"Advanced Idea Mechanics," was all Bruce was told before he heard a pop and felt a stinging sensation in his back. Hulk roared in his mind at the feeling but amazingly didn't surge forward. The time spent with the Avengers had soothed the beast enough that Hulk trusted them. Hulk knew that the others would try and look for Bruce. He would wait... Especially in this crowd... Bruce wouldn't like innocents getting hurt. Whirling around in shock, Bruce felt the numbness start and his world tilted as he lost his balance. The person, a woman now that Bruce could see her, caught him. Her mouth moved like she was talking to him but Bruce's slipping mind couldn't understand it.

"Why?" Bruce moaned, spotting other people coming to join them. The woman smiled but didn't answer. Bruce felt hands all over him before darkness fully took him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I miss having time to write. My attention keeps getting drawn away by Darius, TV and other people speaking with me. It's aggravating.  
> Darius is good. Just demanding attention even when I'm on my computer and attempting to explain that I need to write. Need for my depression and because I really should work on the final book of my trilogy of original work. I'd also like to get a few more done. I have two that I've been actively working on every now and then and the start of like eight more waiting. Sadly, I have something like fifteen fanfictions I've been jumping around with. Otherwise, Darius has been basically acting like any other child.


	5. Emergency Room

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL!?" Tony shouted as he paced the waiting room for the hospital he had chosen to bring Clint too. Clint, who was still violently coughing every few minutes, had been subjugated to a corner of the area with a mask on his face. Pepper sat beside him, rubbing his back as she watched Tony pace the area. She didn't look pleased with him at all. In any other situation, Clint likely would have been laughing at Tony. But, he just couldn’t at the moment. Though he was beginning to get close.

An elderly couple watched Tony as he paced back and forth. The woman held a large plastic bag filled with medication while the man kept subconsciously rubbing his chest every few minutes. A teenage girl holding her arm to her chest leaned into her father's side as Tony ranted and raved. The father looked as displeased with Tony as Pepper was. But the girl seemed to be enjoying the 'show' that Tony was putting on as he ranted and raved.

"We've been here for over an hour!" the genius continued.

"Tony, sit down," Pepper pleaded as Clint paused in his coughing to glare up at the genius. Tony ignored her. Instead he spun around and continued walking the clear area of the waiting room. It had actually been close to two hours that they had to wait. The elderly couple arrived only minutes after then, the woman claiming her husband had an appointment with one of the emergency doctors. A half hour later, the girl came in crying while her father checked her in. He demanded some pain meds for the girl, got them and they had been patiently waiting ever since. Luckily, while everyone in the waiting room recognized Tony as Tony Stark, they were all nice enough to not report seeing him, Pepper Potts and an unknown child in the hospital waiting room. But, Pepper and Clint knew it wouldn't last long. Especially if Tony kept at it.

"I've never seen such lazy staff!" Tony continued ranting. The girl snorted in laughter at him as she had been watching the workers rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off for most of the time that she had been there. "Not even gonna set us up with a room!"

"Tony!" Pepper called, louder this time. The genius waved her off. He was too used to getting things right away to deal with waiting like this. Clint coughed out pained laughter as he watched Tony spin on his heel and restart his pacing. He placed a hand on Pepper's leg and shook his head, pretty much telling the woman that it was just better to let Tony pace and rant. Considering ten minutes after waiting, Tony had started bouncing his leg, this was much better. Sides, Clint liked the entertainment of watching people staring at Tony, wondering if the ranting billionaire would help get them all in faster. The father looked like he was the closest to get upset while the elderly woman’s small smile was slowly becoming strained.

It was within this moment that a man walked in with a hand covering his nose and blood draining down his arm. The man's face was already turning black and blue, a sign that Clint knew meant the guy had broken his nose. He walked up to the counter and briefly spoke to the woman at the desk. Tony turned around in time to see her usher the man into a small interview room. A room that took Clint nearly twenty minutes to get into. Less than three minutes later, a nurse brought a wheelchair around and the man was placed into before being brought into the back.

Clint's eyes widened in shock as he focused on Tony. The elderly couple had watched the exchange and knew what was going to happen next. As soon as the man was brought into the back, the elderly man turned to look at Tony. A small smirk was on his face as he knew the same thing that Clint knew was going to happen. The girl tucked into her father's arm as she had been watching as well but her father had been distracted and hadn't seen much outside of the man with a lot of blood being escorted into the back.

"Oh shit, we're in for it now," Clint mumbled. Pepper nodded, having seen mostly the ending bit as well, just as Tony spun to look at them in outrage.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Tony screeched. The teen snickered again but looked to her father and saw that he was also rather upset at this. Even the elderly couple seemed to be on Tony's side at this point. Pepper went to stand but Clint pushed his hand down on her knee and shook his head. Tony needed to get this out of his system. They watched as the billionaire spun on his heel and stomped up to the front desk. The nurse waiting there was oblivious to what was happening. "What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Excuse me?" the nurse replied in faux anger as she looked up at Tony. Everyone watched as it took her a few seconds to realize who she was speaking too and then her eyes widened in shock. Pepper sighed deeply. To avoid reporters flocking to this hospital and bothering everyone, Pepper had signed Clint in while Tony had parked and helped Clint inside to sit down. But considering how long they had waited and that neither Clint nor Tony understood the implications of what the public would be seeing right now, Pepper couldn't stop Tony now. She looked down at Clint now and just sighed. Slowly she shook her head. It was too late. Clint huffed. "To... Tony... Tony Stark!?"

"Why the fuck did that guy go before us? We've been waiting forever!" Tony loudly complained, waving his hand to the people in the waiting room in general. While he didn’t fully care what happened with the elders and the girl, they still had waited nearly as long. The woman looked horrified before she began fumbling for a phone to call someone in the back area. She dropped it numerous times which only seemed to make Tony more upset and her more clumsier. It took her an extra minute or two to actually make the much needed call. Tony stood over her as he watched her say some type of jargon into the phone.

Before the nurse could even hang up, another nurse, a male this time, came out of the back. He looked flustered and held onto a chart that was beginning to drop to the floor. It was quickly put together and papers half hung out of it. Pepper and Clint could tell that more than likely, the nurses in the back dug through the other files to try and find this one before pulling it out. The duo wouldn't have been surprised if the nurses had actually dropped it once or twice either.

"Clint Barton?" the man announced, confused at the name considering he had been told to grab the longest wait and bring them back. Pepper and Clint stood as Tony threw his hands into the air. Everyone watched as Pepper and Clint moved toward the nurse and Pepper wondered how quick the news would spread. Maybe she should have signed Clint in with Tony's last name. But... Would that have made it worse? Pepper had no idea. She glance back into the waiting room before the doors to the back closed. As Tony followed, Pepper could see the nurses and other hospital staff going for their phones but none of the other waiting patients did. Nice to see some people were considerate.

"FINALLY!" Tony shouted to the heavens the moment Clint’s name had been called. Pepper sent him a withering look but continued helping the weak Clint toward the back area and chasing after the nurse who had called upon them. It took a bit for them to get there and then to walk all around the emergency department to find an empty room. Clearly the nurses hadn’t been prepared for another patient but Tony had rushed them. Clint glanced in each room and noticed that every room had someone in it be it alone or with loved ones. Many people looked like they had been in some sort of accident.

"What happened to them?" Pepper wondered aloud. The nurse glanced back at them. He glanced down at the file to see why Clint was being admitted. Then he got an angered expression. If it had been him, he would have called the boy’s pediatrician rather than bring him to the emergency room for a fever and cough.

"A pretty big accident nearby. It's why we've been so busy," he explained before ushering them into a room. Right away, he dug into a drawer and dropped a blue hospital gown down onto the bed. Though it was really more like he slapped it down. Clint groaned slightly at the sight of it. He hated those things with a passion. Why had he allowed Tony and Pepper to bring him to an actual hospital instead of S.H.I.E.L.D, he couldn’t remember. But, now, he seriously wished he had mentioned something. "Everything off, opening in the back."

"It's just a cough and a fever, do I really need to?" Clint whined, playing off his younger form. No need to tell the doctors that he was actually around 31 years old and Tony had somehow de-aged him. The man nodded. Frowning, Clint began working on his clothes, not glancing at Pepper or Tony. Pepper shifted to the back corner of the room in an effort to not look at the boy. Tony made sure to block the nurse's view of Clint's rather scarred back, just in case they tried to blame either of them. Once the boy was done, the nurse turned around to see Tony.

"Excuse me," he said. Tony glanced back at Clint and the boy nodded. Feeling better, Tony backed off. The nurse shook his head and began getting the readings he needed, like temp, blood pressure, oxygen level and other such things. As he did so, he began to frown. Doing some of the readings involved quick looks at Clint’s very scarred body. He questioned Clint on a few things like when this started, had it gotten worse, any other symptoms and such. Some things also leaned a bit toward violence done on him but it was hidden behind normal questions. Normal questions that Clint was used too whenever his mother had gotten him to the hospital or he had gotten enough money to go himself once or twice without the fear of getting caught. A few times he even started answering before the nurse finished asking. When he was done, the nurse (with a deep frown on his face) stood and headed to the door. Tony stood to stop him but wasn't fast enough. "The doc will be here soon."

"Seriously?" Tony cried when the nurse left and closed the door. He cried out so loud that no one heard the click of the lock to keep the three of them in. Clint snorted at the genius.

"Guess you don't wait in hospitals very long," he remarked. Tony shook his head. Howard never took much care of him. Jarvis, the real Jarvis, actually knew enough medical care that he tended to care for Tony on his own. Hell, this was more than likely Tony's first actual trip to an actual hospital since the night he was born... Well, no... Outside out visiting other people... So, hospital emergency room. "Waiting rooms can take up to three hours and waiting for the doc can sometimes take all night."

"Jeez, sucks to be normal," Tony groaned. Clint nodded. He agreed. Pepper smiled and shook her head at the two as she pulled out her phone to get a head's up on any press release about Tony in a hospital with a young child. So far, it looked like nothing had been mentioned yet. But, there was still time yet. Mentally she was already working on a way to spin what was sure to be a very big story within the hour.

"Why I tended to deal with issues myself. Tended to work faster," the archer stated.

"Are you kidding me? You could be dying!" Tony hypothesized. Clint laughed before dropping into a loud, wet cough.

"It's probably just a cold," the boy grunted.

"Colds don't normally include excess vomiting," Pepper pointed out. Clint sighed and leaned back on the bed. At this point, all he wanted was to go back to the tower, lay on the couch with a bowl of Pepper’s chicken noodle soup (which had improved on it’s own when the archer started asking for it while not sick) and watch T.V. Tony and Pepper traded looks before Tony also grabbed his phone. He wasn't going to wait in another hospital emergency room again. Hey, he already had Bruce as a main doc, why not just get the remaining others? There was a lab on the floor right below the common room that could easily be emptied and converted into a medical area. Pepper sighed and shook her head. The boy was relaxing back into the bed as the trio waited and waited. Clint barely even noticed as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

\----------

Clint woke up a few hours later. Unsure of exactly how long it was but knowing it was a while, Clint realized rather quickly that he must have drifted off into a really deep sleep cause he wasn't at the hospital anymore. Right now, he was actually in the common room at Stark Tower. For a moment, the archer wondered if maybe he had dreamed the whole thing but as he coughed and looked down to see he barely covered two cushions on the plush couch, he knew. He was still six years old. Behind him, someone cleared their throat. Clint lifted his head up to see who it was. Pepper stood there smiling softly at him. He smiled back in a way that showed if it was anyone other than her, it more than likely wouldn't have been as meaningful.

"Hey," she softly said as she walked around the couch to sit by his feet. In his waking, Clint had kicked off a fluffy blanket that she quickly replaced on his small frame. He tried to sit up further but a cough forced him back down and Pepper placed a hand on his leg to calm him. Clint twitched at the touch, suddenly unused to the contact of such care from someone when he was ill. Pepper didn't seem to even notice. "You fell asleep and missed most of the action."

"What happened?" Clint coughed, trying to ignore Pepper's sudden maternal instincts kicking in. He was already uncomfortable with the constant cough and his body apparently settling after shrinking down so quickly. Hell, he was still trying to wrap his mind around the sudden needs of his body at this young age. His mind was slowly telling him to move closer into Pepper's chest and demand a hug from the woman but he couldn't do it. In fact, all he really wanted to do right now was go to his room, curl back up into his blanket bundle and go to sleep, praying that he'd wake and all this would end up being a very extended and detailed dream.

"Tony's little stunt at the waiting room was headline news. Reporters flocked to the hospital a few minutes after you fell asleep. To try and get us out, a doctor rushed to see you and claimed that you had a common cold and a stomach bug. But he said if any more symptoms come up, we should return and have Tony check in rather than me," Pepper explained. Clint smiled lightly at the last bit. It was kind of true. If Pepper hadn't signed them in, Tony would have gotten them a room almost right away. "Tony thinks the stomach bug might actually be a reaction to whatever happened to you. He's trying to contact Bruce right now but neither he nor Steve are answering their phones."

"Does Tony know what turned me into a kid?" Clint muttered, drawing up the blanket so it rubbed up against his neck. He was upset slightly when he realized that the blanket still completely covered him. Before, he had been tall enough that when he did this, it normally hug up over his ankles and he'd have to draw up his legs or stuff his feet under whoever was sitting on the couch with him (typically Natasha and surprisingly Steve). Now he had no reason to pull his legs away from the CEO. Pepper shook her head as she began rubbing the leg nearest hers when it twitched. Clint scoffed and looked away before coughing a few times. Pepper stood up and turned to head toward the kitchen. Clint watched her before figuring she was going to get him some food. "At least my mind didn't regress as well. I was such a little shit, especially when sick."

"I'm gonna make some soup," Pepper commented while trying not to laugh. Much of Clint's history was filled with the archer telling the Avengers that 'he was a little shit'. At this point they weren't really sure if they actually believed him. But considering who they were talking too and considering his past, for all they knew, he could have actually been.

Clint nodded at her words before glancing down at the TV remote which was conveniently placed within arm's reach. Slowly, he leaned over and grabbed it. Truthfully the device was worthless considering JARVIS could control the TV. But apparently Natasha or Bruce complained that hitting the channel button was therapeutic or something. So now, just to tick off Tony, everyone tended to use the remote. It was fun, especially when they knew the genius was watching them. But right now, Clint wanted to use it just so he had something to do. And his throat was hurting and speaking was aggravating it a bit.

With a deep sigh, Clint powered up the T.V. and began scrolling through channels. It was early morning on a Friday, so mostly every channel was either old repeated shows, soap operas, old movies or really kiddy cartoons. A few more channels in, some sort of dark music made Clint pause. He watched as a caped figure bounced around the screen in the opening music title, beating up bad guys and fleeing the scene before the cops got there. The title of _Batman_ showed on the screen a few seconds before Pepper returned. While Clint knew there was a movie and comic about the caped crusader, he never paid much attention to it. Any comic he could get a hold when he was young was always the _Captain America_ comics. He had a slight crush on Bucky Barnes, both the real one and the young comic version. During the commercial, she delivered the soup, helped Clint get comfortable and sat down herself to watch over the spy turned boy. It wasn't long before the show returned. Like Clint, Pepper was quickly drawn to the show.

"What is this?" Pepper muttered more to herself than to Clint. The boy smirked, having realizing earlier that this show seemed rather familiar to someone he knew. He swallowed a spoonful of the soup before looking at her. For a brief moment, he wondered what she'd think of it. But then he realized he was sick and currently the form of a six year old boy, maybe he could use this to get away with some things that he never used to be able to do. Like watch things on TV that others might not enjoy.

"Kids' cartoon," Clint replied as if it made sense. Pepper turned and gave him a look that told the archer that she already figured that out. He chuckled and coughed a little, shifting the soup so as to not spill on himself. Pepper grabbed the bowl from him to make sure none of it spilled in case it continued but the archer wouldn't release his grip. Clint shook his head as he started speaking which made her release her grip and allowed him to return the bowl to his lap. "It's called Batman or something."

"Seems stupid," Pepper mumbled, turning back to watch some more. She was beginning to feel like the overall story line was familiar for some reason. Clint raised an eyebrow at her as he waited for her to continue. A minute passed, were he began eating some more before he hummed at the show. Batman had just taken down some super villain and was telling the police chief that he had some important business to attend to. "Seems like it's making fun of Tony."

"Oh?" Clint called as he turned to watch. Pepper nodded as Bruce Wayne arrived at a huge party and started to make a scene with the host. Clint smirked, beginning to see what she meant. Glancing back at her, he could see that she seemed to disapprove of the concept. Well, he sure as hell wasn't going to stop Pepper from trapping herself. For a moment, Clint wondered if JARVIS was recording this. But he figured that maybe the AI was smart enough to see the same thing he did.

"A billionaire making a suit and traipsing around, acting like a super hero. I mean, can't someone else do this? What gives him the right to call himself a hero and defend this world? Does it even need him?" Pepper bitched, letting out all her frustration of when she found out about Tony. Clint almost laughed here but held back cause somehow he could just tell she wasn't done. She looked to him and if he wasn't trained as a spy, Clint wouldn't have been able to blank his face out as he stared at her wondering what she was going to say. "It's so stupid! Who would even believe this is real?"

"So, someone who isn't super, acting like a super hero is stupid?" Clint tried to clarify. For a moment, he realized he wasn't super either. Actually, only Tony and he weren't super on the team. So, did Pepper really think that he was stupid too? Pepper nodded, thinking only about Tony and Bruce Wayne. Clint not being super didn't even cross her mind. "By that reasoning, Tony being Iron Man is stupid."

"Yes," Pepper agreed, sharply turning back to watch the show. Clint waited a beat to allow Pepper to realize what she said. Suddenly she turned beat red and turned back to him. "Wait! No!"

Clint cracked up laughing, quickly forgetting that she might mean him as well. Pepper smiled at the boy as she shook her head and wondered how she got trapped like that. She wasn't used to things like this. Even though she knew that Clint was notorious for tricking people, she couldn't see how he did it. Clint's laughing began to ebb when it intermingled with rough coughing. She reached forward, rubbing his leg to help soothe him out of it. It took a bit before Pepper realized that since Clint had woken she hadn't given him anything for the cold.

"Oh my god! Your medicine!" Pepper cried before standing to go get it. Clint put down his bowl as he coughed and waved at her to get her attention. It worked. She paused and watched him before realizing that he was having trouble breathing. Quickly, she rushed behind him and sat him up before lightly pounding on his back. As the coughing ebbed, he leaned back.

"Thanks," he croaked as he relaxed back. Pepper nodded before turning to go find the meds that Tony and her had bought on their way back from the hospital. She found it quickly and returned to Clint only to see him already asleep on the couch again. He must have conked out as soon as her back turned to him. Smiling softly, she moved over to him, shifted the blanket, grabbed his hardly touched soup and used the remote to turn down the T.V. Looking back at him, she then prepared the medicine and left it sitting next to the remote on the coffee table in front of him. She could only hope that Clint was smart enough to take the meds when he woke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy delayed Thanksgiving for those that celebrate it. Hope everyone had a good and safe day. We stayed home, getting food premade and delivered the night before so we didn't have to worry about much. Course, Darius refused to eat any of the food and stuck with a Lunchable. *eye roll* Whatever. At least he ate. This morning was an early day due to hubby needing to go work but I was able to put Darius to sleep again for another four hours or so. I barely caught an hour but he's been doing good with not bugging me. Told him I was 'working.' Which, as a writer (fanfiction and otherwise), is true. Writing is my job. I should just work more on the income making stories than the fanfictions, lol.


	6. Nightmare

Pepper arrived down at Tony's lab only a few minutes after Clint had drifted off to sleep. Tony was sitting at his holo desk with numerous screens loaded. One showed a feed of the common room where Clint was sleeping, another was replaying Pepper's conversation with Clint, a third showed Tony and Clint training from the day before, and the rest showed some type of science or mechanical thing that Pepper couldn't understand. She smiled at the form of Clint still asleep on the couch. It was pleasing to know that Tony was as worried as she was.

"How's our little Merida?" Tony called without looking over in her direction. Pepper rolled her eyes at the name that he was using this week. He tried to change it up as much as possible but when not everyone was as caught up to pop culture as he was, many times it just went over everyone's heads. But then again, a lot of times that ended up being half of Tony's fun cause then he got to spend 'movie night' helping everyone catching up on that particular pop culture reference.

"He's fine. But I think you already knew that," Pepper commented as she arrived at his side and pointed to the feed of Clint. Tony shrugged and quickly closed that screen down. Pepper noted that it actually didn't disappear, just vanished into a tiny corner of the screen. Meaning that even though Tony wasn't watching, JARVIS was keeping an active interest in Clint's condition. "Have you gotten in contact with Steve or Bruce?"

"No. I don't know what's going on. I can understand Capsicle not answering but Bruce always answers. Ever since that day when I blew up half the lab," Tony mentioned. Pepper nodded, remembering that day very well. Figuring she'd just get more worried about Tony if she focused on his history, Pepper decided to move on. She glanced at the other monitors, trying to get a basic clue as to what the genius was trying to do. Sadly, she wasn't on the same wavelength as Tony and couldn't catch even a glimpse.

"Any clue as to why Clint is a kid?" Tony tensed for a moment but quickly relaxed again. It was a nervous twitch that he had only developed since Pepper began accusing him of something and actually realizing when he lied about it. So now as Pepper watched the genius, she knew that Tony had an answer but just didn't want to tell her. Frowning, Pepper reached forward and smacked the back of his head before he could come up with a lie for her current question. "Anthony Edward Stark, what did you do!?"

"Ow! What the hell! Why me?" Tony cried, spinning around to face Pepper as he grabbed his head. Right away he could see that he wasn't going to convince her otherwise. Rolling his eyes, he spun back to his computer so as to not let her know how much it bothered him that it was his fault. "Fine! I may..." Tony paused as he spun to stop Pepper from smacking him again. Pepper held her hand up and waited as Tony rushed through the rest of his speech. "MAY! HaveinjectedClintwithBruce'snewestserumtogetridofHulkratherthanasleepingagentIwasmakingforNatasha."

"Tony!" Pepper exasperatingly whined as she wondered how Tony could have messed up that badly. Long ago she learned how to translate Tony's fast talk and so there was no hesitation. The genius winced at her voice. Pepper knew Tony wasn't the best at keeping track of his experiments but when it came to safety of others, Tony was one of the best. Hell, he normally had so many safety precautions around his labs that Pepper at one point had to spend an entire day trying to get down to Tony's lab when Butterfingers accidentally spilt a small vial of what ended up being water mixed with a small amount of dry ice. JARVIS had an issue identifying it as in a lab in Stark Industries had also had an accident and it was a chemical that spread through the room.

Tony groaned and turned back to his computer. He already felt like crap and now she seemed to be making it worse. How he wished he could turn back time. Anything to fix this. Go back, tell the others not to leave. Tell Clint that training sucks. Stop JARVIS from going into maintenance mode. Just fix one thing in the past and it would stop Clint from turning into a six year old. Spinning back to face her, Tony sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry! We were training, I knocked over mine and Bruce's desk and... Well, it kind-of went downhill from there," Tony moaned. Pepper glanced behind him and spotted a video showing exactly what the genius described. Tony had knocked over the desks, grabbed a vial without looking at it and stuffed it in the Widow Bite before facing Clint. "That's why I've been trying to call Bruce. I can't make sense of any of it. And all of Bruce's tests were done on himself and not..."

"So, you have no idea what could happen?" Pepper clarified slowly. Tony nodded. Already he had debated with JARVIS to try and test one of the other samples on Clint's blood or even his blood. But the AI pointed out that any effect done on the blood would already have happened to Clint and so it was pointless.

"He could stay as six years old, or he could turn even younger. We might get lucky and this won't last or... He may never age again. I... I just don't know," Tony whined, wishing he had a better answer. It bothered him that there was nothing he could do. Pepper sighed before pulling her boyfriend into a hug as she began to think about how Clint would take the news. Who knew what would happen? She stiffened when Tony suddenly sniffed into her shirt. "I'm... I'm scarred that I may have killed him."

"Oh, Tony," Pepper soothed as she began rubbing his back. At this point she didn't know what to tell him. In fact, she wasn't sure there was anything that she could do to calm him. Thankfully she didn't have to worry about it for too long. As Tony began to shift deeper into her hug, JARVIS spoke up.

"Sir, I am reading an elevated heart rate come from Agent Barton," JARVIS announced into the lab. Tony quickly pulled out of Pepper's embrace and loaded up the video feed of the common room. Clint was tossing and turning on the couch. The blanket was bundled on the floor, indicating he had kicked it off. A soft cry escaped the boy's lips as he tried to curl into a ball. Pepper gasped in shock, not used to seeing the archer in such a vulnerable way. Tony froze, unsure what to do. He had never been placed in such a situation before. "I believe he is having a nightmare."

"Oh!" Pepper called before spinning around to run to the elevator. Clint let out a loud sob that had Tony right on her heels. They arrived at the elevator in time for JARVIS to open it. A video monitor showed up above the buttons for each floor. It showed that Clint was beginning to struggle worse. As they watched, the elevator drew closer and just as the doors opened, Clint gave out a loud, blood curdling scream. Pepper was quick to the boy's side as Clint jerked forward in horror and she pulled him into a tight hug. Clint, still in the mentality of a trained assassin and frightened from his dream, began to try and fight her off. "Shh, shh... It's okay, it's okay."

A moment passed for Clint to register the soothing words and voice. As he did, his struggles lessened until he finally stopped and sagged into Pepper's arms. She didn't let go even though he had stopped. Nor did she stop speaking. Instead, she began rubbing his back and rocking him as she continued her soothing mantra. For some reason, that made the archer crack and suddenly he burst into tears. Stunned, Pepper looked up at Tony for help. But the genius looked just as shaken about Clint crying as Pepper was. It had only been a few months prior that everyone had learned about Clint's past. He still wasn't even all that open with them after.

Minutes passed in which the three awkwardly just allowed the archer to cry. But it was slowly beginning to sound like Clint was going to stop. Pepper didn't once pause in her soothing method. She just waited. Once he finally did stop, he gently pushed her away. She backed off but didn't completely remove her hands from his body. He seemed gladdened for her continued support. As he tried to re-center his mind, Clint leaned back on the couch. The stretching of his lungs after such a dream made him quickly burst into a coughing fit that had Pepper back to grabbing him and rubbing his back. After a minute or so it died down.

"You okay?" Pepper softly asked, more about the coughing then his nightmare. Clint nodded, figuring she wanted to know about his nightmare. Tony shifted his weight, feeling rather strange as he wondered what to do. His curiosity made him want to ask Clint about his nightmare but his past history with friends, made Tony just want to slip away into his lab and never come out again. Pepper tilted her head to one side as Clint looked away. Both men weren't used to this sort of idea of someone caring about them. It was something that Pepper had gotten used to with Tony. So, she rubbed Clint's knee to get his attention. When he looked back at her, she gave him a soft and gentle smile. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Clint said, almost sounding like a pleading sob that broke before Pepper could even finish asking. Pepper nodded, intending on dropping the subject and allowing Clint to bring it up at a later date. Remembering Tony and how he was, she glanced up at the genius and narrowed her eyes at him. Pretty much daring the billionaire to be an ass and press Clint. Tony shook his head, for once actually knowing the proper thing to do. After hearing so much about Clint's past before, there was no way he wanted to know what could scare the archer so much. Too bad that Clint suddenly changed his mind. "It... It was the night my... Dad, killed Mom."

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Pepper soothed when Clint hesitated to say more. Tony frowned, wondering if it would look too cowardly to turn and run to his lab rather than listen to the story. Clint shook his head 'no.' He had kept this whole thing secret for long enough. The team already knew about the orphanage and that his parents died in a car crash. Might as well finish the rest. Especially since he knew that if he looked in the mirror, his six year old body would have the fresh looking scars from that night.

"We had gone out... My... Dad had gotten some extra cash from a friend and my mom had saved some... It was my birthday that day. We went out to ‘celebrate.’ He drank all night. Almost got us kicked out of the restaurant. Mom got into a fight with him in the parking lot. All she had done was ask to drive home. He... He beat her for a full two minutes before someone came out. We left without anyone talking to him. The whole way home, he kept screaming at us that it was our fault. If Barney and I had been good boys, we would still be there. We may even had been able to get dessert," Clint began. He took a long pause as he tried to calm himself. With a deep sigh, he continued. "I... I noticed that he was speeding and mentioned it to Barney. Barney told... He told me to buckle up. Normally... We didn't... The way that my dad drove, it hurt too much to wear one. That night it was worse than normal.

"Barney was able to buckle. I tried to but mine was broken or something... Either way, I couldn't. Mom suddenly screamed and I looked up to see a tree," Clint again paused. Pepper and Tony were silent. Neither had any idea if this was a dream or what Clint actually remembered. Pepper hoped it was a dream. An exaggeration of the truth. Tony... Well, Tony just wanted to run and hide. "I... I woke up a good ten to fifteen feet away from the car. As the only one not buckled in, I was the only one tossed. Slowly, I headed back. Mom... Her head was split in a piece of the windshield. She had broken it before I had gone through but my body had pushed her down onto a shard. Her seat had broken off the floor... Dad... My dad was still alive when I got back... The wheel was crushing his chest and a branch from the tree was lodged in his throat. He... I watched as he slowly suffocated to death."

"Oh god," Tony cried before spinning away from Clint. His hand reached out and clasped the back of the couch to steady him as the billionaire gagged. The imagery that Clint provided was too strong. Tony could almost see the whole ordeal right now. Pepper refused to let it faze her but her slowly paling face showed that she was being affected as well. Clint didn't even notice. He just continued on as if they weren't there.

"In reality... Barney had somehow slipped out of his seat belt. How, no one really knows. But after watching Dad die, I... I looked for Barney. He... He had fallen in between the back seat and the front seat. He... God, he had been squished between the seats. I couldn't do anything to help him... The wor... The worst part is... Barney spent the whole time, soothing me. Telling me it was okay. That we'd be fine," Clint recalled. And to a degree it had been true. They both survived the crash. And they survived the orphanage, the circus (for the most part). After that, it got a bit fuzzy on what happened with Barney. Neither Tony nor Pepper said a thing. They just waited. "In... In my dream... Barney died and my dad lived. He... He got out of the car. Chased me... Then beat me to death while saying it was my fault. That Mom and Barney would still be alive and happy if I had never been born. That it was because of me, he lost his job. Because of me that he turned abusive."

"Oh, Clint!" Pepper cried before pulling the archer into a hug. Clint stiffened at the contact, having been lost in his dream only minutes before. Realizing what was happening and where he currently was, Clint relaxed into her arms. Pepper almost sobbed for Clint as she began to sooth him once again. "It wasn't your fault. Don't ever believe that."

Clint just nodded into Pepper's body. He had nothing else to say. No matter how much he wanted to believe her, he just couldn't. Barney used to tell him the same thing. It had only been days after Clint was born when their father had lost his job. In his distress, the old man turned to drinking and ended up being violent. Every day that he came home after not finding a job, he'd drink and then beat his family. So Clint couldn't believe that it wasn't his fault. Once or twice Barney tried to explain how their father used to be so caring and loving. But it didn’t help Clint. By the time Barney realized the stories upset his brother, he stopped but the damage had been done. Clint knew it was all his fault.

Feeling emotionally drained, Clint drifted deeper into Pepper's embrace. Realizing that he was getting sleepy again, Pepper began humming a soft tune. Something that her mother used to hum to her. Clint moaned in contentment at the song and began to drift off. Not much later, Pepper felt his breathing shift into sleep and so she shifted him back down onto laying on the couch. She continued to hum the tune which was good for as soon as he was laid down he began coughing yet again. Thankfully he stayed asleep. Once he was down, Tony went to speak but Pepper shook her head. Slowly, she reached for the blanket and gently draped it along the boy's body. They waited a minute, watching Clint until his coughing subsided and he rested deeper. Certain he was fine, Pepper stood and waved Tony into the kitchen nearby.

"How is he not mentally fucked up?" Tony muttered once they entered the kitchen. Pepper shook her head, unsure how to respond as she had just now began to wonder the same thing herself. Both knew that each Avenger had dealt with their fair share of tragedy. But it seemed almost like Clint's life went to an extreme. After everything Clint had told them before and now this... The fact that he turned out the way he did was amazing. Not wanting to dwell on it any more, Pepper turned to Tony.

"What are we going to do?" she softly asked. Tony paused, wondering what she meant before realizing she was talking about Clint. Considering he had no idea how Bruce's serum worked and what could happen to Clint, Tony had to wait for the doc to call back. Until then, he had no idea what to do. Anything could happen. Not sure what to say, Tony just shrugged, almost hoping that Pepper had an answer. "Do you... Do you think this will last?"

"Honestly Pep? I have no clue. Until I get a hold of Bruce, I don't really have anything. All his tests and notes are reactions to his blood and Hulk. I'm not even sure he'll have an answer," Tony admitted. Pepper shuddered. Her mind filtered through possibilities. Tony's mind did the same. He didn't want to admit that he was terrified of what would happen to Clint. "I wish... I had an answer..."

"He's going to need clothes," Pepper suddenly declared, changing the subject so fast that it threw the genius for a loop. Tony frowned, unsure how she suddenly came up with this idea. She was looking at Clint at the time that she spoke but now she was looking at the genius with expectant eyes. It took Tony another minute or two to understand what she meant. Then...

"No. No! Ah Hell NO!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um... I just now realized I missed an entire week of posting... I have no idea what was on my mind and why that happened... I apologize.
> 
> In the meantime, Christmas is coming upon us and I'm debating how to celebrate it for all my readers. I have a few extra stories I could start posting but then I'd be posting three stories at the same time and I'm not sure I'd be able to handle that every Friday (due to quick editing before posting). But, I also don't have a one shot... Ugh. Difficult decisions.
> 
> Darius is doing good. Keeping the room clean is easier by simply threating to sweep everything up and put it in the trash. Course, I can't just leave it as a vocal threat. I actually have to get up and grab our broom and dustpan and wander the rooms, sweeping things up while waiting for him to collect them and put them back in their proper places. Can't go too fast cause he's recently gotten pretty particular with how certain toys sit. I don't care. As long as everything gets picked up. He's been having fun at school. Can't remember the names of his classmates for the life of him (or he's just fucking with me). Some days are better than others when it comes to typing and even more, some _hours_ are better than others. But, I'm trying to equal things out.
> 
> So, hopefully I'll remember next week to post. If not, you can always review and yell at me, lol.


	7. Mall Trip

"Whipped," Clint announced the next day. Surprisingly, he was already over the worse of his cold and the stomach bug was apparently only a twenty four hour thing. It hadn't been too surprising to Clint that he ‘healed’ so fast, as the archer explained to Tony and Pepper, his body had to get over sicknesses fast as a kid (depending on the illness). His father was never one to let him stay down for long, nor did the orphanage and circus have the cash for medication. So his body adapted. He also claimed that he’d likely be completely back to normal by dinner time.

Tony stopped walking as he heard the word. Clint snorted as the genius glanced around the unfamiliar area. A crowd of people split around the duo, too distracted with their own shopping to realize who they were passing. It ended up being a good thing for Clint and Tony but a good ways behind the duo, Happy Hogun stood watching them for signs of distress. He had already called mall security to let them know Tony was stopping by but wanted privacy. So, they were on stand-by until Happy gave the warning. Thankfully he hadn't noticed any problems with the duo. And they were so lost in their own world that they didn't even realize that Happy was following them. Usually, that was how Tony was. The genius didn't notice ninety percent of what Happy tended to do for him, but it was more than likely for the best. But Happy knew that Clint was normally more aware than he was now. Course, that didn’t mean that Clint did know and was just refusing to act like he knew.

"I am not whipped," Tony said before walking again into the nearest kids store, as if using that for the main reason for stopping to glare at the boy. The front end was mostly a display for sale items of mixed gender and so Tony just kind-of picked a side and walked into it. Sadly, it was the girl's side. Clint quickly followed, ignoring the clothes around him. Once beside Tony again, he imitated a whip crack with his hand while making the similar sound. Tony grimaced and glanced back at the boy with a glare. "I am not whipped!"

"Oh, Tony!" Clint began, imitating Pepper's voice in a lousy way. Tony quickly shifted to the boy's section of the store. There was no way he was going to spend a whole day doing this. The faster the genius got this done the better. He half hoped to rid himself of the boy but Clint was still rather quick on his feet and so the archer was right on his heels. "Clint needs clothes! Why don't you bring him out shopping?"

"I am not whipped!" Tony insisted before grabbing a random shirt off the rack and tossing it at a now laughing Clint. Calming down, Clint pulled the shirt off his face and looked at it. The shirt was a light baby blue with a cartoon character of some sort with a cutesy looking face with a saying surrounding it claiming 'I'm Too Cute!' Clint blanched before putting it back. He followed Tony for a few more racks before quickly realizing Tony was grabbing the first shirt he saw, even if it was the correct size or not. Rolling his eyes, Clint broke off from the genius. Separately the two shopped in the store. Tony grabbed whatever he wanted, especially if he thought it would embarrass Clint while the former grabbed the correct size and the most least childish things he could find.

They met up again a bit later. Clint had maybe a hundred to two hundred dollars worth of shirts, shorts, underwear and socks. Just about all of it totaled to two weeks' worth of clothing (which is just about the smallest amount that Pepper would allow). Tony had close to six hundred dollars of just shirts. Grimacing, Clint began digging through the pile. Nearly all of it went back onto the racks. A few of the shirts that Clint decided to keep just because Tony complained about him putting everything back. Checking each size once again, Clint headed over to the checkout counter. Tony followed, still moaning that mostly all of the 'fun' things that he found were placed back on the racks. Clint, having used to being around the genius now, just rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"Hello, did you find everything okay?" the sales clerk asked as she began ringing out the clothes. Clint nodded yes. Tony smirked, knowing what was likely to come next. She must not have been paying attention visually but she sure was paying attention audibly.

"Mostly," he said. Stunned at the familiar voice, she looked up.

"Oh my god! You're Tony Stark!" she called, stopping the whole check out process. Tony nodded, used to this reaction. Clint shifted, suddenly beginning to see a downside to Pepper sending him out to shop with Tony. It would have been easier if she or even just Happy went out shopping with the boy. But Tony... Not her brightest plan. Either that, or this was some sort of unknown revenge or something. What could Clint have done to tick her off recently?

"Yeah, yeah. I'll sign an autograph later," Tony agreed without her even asking. She giggled before looking back at Clint. Her eyes widened as she just naturally assumed that Clint was Tony's kid. Clint shifted uncomfortably as he watched the woman look back and forth between the two. He could tell she was looking for similarities.

"Can you please just check us out?" Clint begged softly. The woman gasped, assuming that he wanted privacy with his 'father.' Nodding, she began quickly scanning each item faster than before. But as she did so, she fumbled a few times and overall seemed to actually be extending the timeline. Clint rolled his eyes and turned to walk through the store once again. Behind him, he could hear Tony chatting with the woman as she worked. Rolling his eyes again, Clint headed to the front. Once at the front of the store, he noticed Happy was standing there, a phone to his ear. "Happy?"

"Ah! Clint!" Happy cried, pulling the phone from his ear. He looked slightly flustered at being caught and spoken to but quickly gave the boy a smile. "Did you get enough clothes?"

"Yeah... If Tony ever stops talking to the employee," Clint bemoaned. To be completely honest, he was actually done with shopping and he just wanted to head back to the tower to rest a bit. Happy nodded. He was used to following Tony to a mall and only visiting one store as his boss kept chatting with employees. Clint relaxed against the barrier along with the other man. They silently waited for a bit. After a minute, Clint glanced at Happy. "Do you always follow Tony?"

"Whenever he goes out, I do. Well, unless he goes out on Avengers' business or he's already in the Iron Man suit," Happy replied, nodding his head down. It was then that Clint noticed a small metal briefcase sitting down on the ground beside the man. Remembering what Natasha had once told him about Tony building a portable suit, he smiled at it. Happy had brought the Iron Man suit. The archer hadn't even thought about such a possibility. But considering Tony and he were technically the only active Avengers in New York at the moment, it would have been better if Tony had the suit with him personally.

"Were you always this prepared before?" Clint asked mentally ignoring the part of his mind that said he should have noticed the briefcase and Happy long before hand. Happy nodded with a small laugh.

"I tried to be as much as possible. My mom used to say I was a boy scout before I was in Boy Scouts." Clint turned around to look at the rest of the mall. He mentally wondered how much longer they'd be out here.

"It's his job to be prepared," Tony suddenly finished from behind Clint. The boy turned around to see the billionaire standing there with no bags. Clint frowned at the sight. Tony shrugged. "She's gonna deliver it to the tower. Now, I'm hungry."

Clint rolled his eyes as Tony turned and walked off. Happy smiled. Shrugging, the duo followed after the genius. It wasn't much further before Tony suddenly stopped in front of a store and gaped at the display. Clint was quick to join his side and cringed. Happy just laughed. He had forgotten that since the Manhattan incident, none of the Avengers had really gone shopping. So they wouldn't have known about this.

Inside the store was a large display of Avengers merchandise. Shirts displaying Captain America's shield or Thor's Mjolnir. Green shirts imprinted with muscles to act like Hulk. And shirts of gold and red with a blue circle to act like Iron Man. There were also matching shorts for each and other items like toys, belts, purses, wallets and so much more. Clint leaned forward to even note the detail of each of the items and his cringe turned to a grimace. While there had been a quick line of Captain America clothes (before Steve was found) and Iron Man clothes (from 2008), what was now in display was _all_ the other Avengers’ items as well.

"This is totally awesome!" Tony declared. He turned to look at Happy. "Please tell me that Stark Industries did this!"

"Indeed, Miss Potts got permission to be the head of merchandising for the Avengers. It made it easier when you invited everyone to live in the tower. Nearly all products are reviewed by her before being made for the public," Happy announced. Clint groaned and slammed his palm into his hand in embarrassment. "I assumed that you had known."

"I hadn't known that Stark Industries was involved. And I doubt anyone else knows," Clint groaned. Tony excitingly laughed before rushing inside. He had seen Clint's shirt size in the other store and now he intended to use it well. In his ear, JARVIS also mentioned everyone else’s shirt size so that way Clint wasn’t the only one ‘suffering’ the attack of merchandise and that Clint would have the shirts when he returned the normal. Clint didn't move as he watched Tony grab a whole ton of every type of clothing off the display. The genius even began to grab some of the toys. "Can you kill me?"

"I don't think Miss Potts and Mr. Stark would approve," Happy laughed. Clint moaned as he turned to move away from the store. Inside, Tony exclaimed something about Clint wearing a Black Widow shirt and praying that Natasha wouldn't kill them. Happy once again laughed and moved to follow Clint. "Does this bother you?"

"No... It bothers me that Tony's going to make me suffer through wearing all that," Clint muttered as he leaned up against the railing that prevented people from falling down to the next level. Neither of them really noted that Tony wasn’t just grabbing kid sized shirts. He was also grabbing a bunch of adult items as well. Happy nodded as if he understood what Clint would be going through. "It's good that the public can get these things to show their approval of us."

"Have you seen these before?" Happy wondered. Clint nodded.

"Happened by a store, I think it was a toy store. I saw all of us on display and almost freaked out. But... Then a little boy came out of the store holding a toy Nerf bow. It read Avengers' Hawkeye on it. And he proudly shot a little Nerf bullet at his sister who was holding a Captain America shield. When he loudly proclaimed that he was the best archer in the world, I couldn't help but feel proud," Clint admitted. Happy smiled. He was glad that someone outside of Tony enjoyed the merchandise. Clint snorted. "I... I almost called... Coulson... Guess I kind-of forgot to mention it after that."

Happy glanced over at Clint. The archer barely ever spoke of Coulson. In fact, Happy wasn't even sure if he had ever really heard Clint say the agent's name since they found out the agent was actually still alive but ‘couldn’t’ work with them. But right now, Clint didn't even seem to be fazed. Actually, the boy looked rather ‘relieved’ to have spoken about it, though there was something in Clint’s tone. Something that made Happy curious. The man wondered if maybe he should pressure Clint into speaking more about it. But before he could, Tony arrived from the store. The genius was basically bouncing on air because he was so excited. Happy had to laugh.

"Oh, I so have to go shopping more!" Tony declared as he exited the store. He had a bunch of bags in his hands. At Clint's raised eyebrow, the billionaire shrugged. "They didn't want to deliver to me."

Rolling his eyes, Clint moved on. Together the three walked. Tony proudly showing off all of the purchases to Happy as the guard agreed with every smart decision that Tony claimed to have ever made with them. Because they were rather loud about it, Clint began to notice a lot of people turning to look at them. When they realized it was Tony Stark, many tried to take pictures. The rest... Well, Clint could tell that even if the store employee from the clothing store kept silent about him, there would be plenty of other sources that the news people could use. A few more stores down from the toy shop, Tony just stopped walking.

"Mr. Stark?" Happy called, wondering what had caught the genius's eyes. Seeing as they were nowhere near the food court, Happy knew it wasn't that. Clint stopped as well to see what was going on. Tony didn't reply to anyone, instead he just stared. Clint turned to look at the store they were standing in front of. He snorted.

"Build-A-Bear? Seriously?" Clint muttered. Tony slipped inside. Rolling his eyes again, Clint followed, not seeing the harm in this store. He didn't notice Happy's chuckling or shaking of his head as he waved and waited outside. Near the middle of the store, on the right wall, Tony stopped before a display of a couple of bears. Clint took one glance and snickered. Tony smiled before grabbing an unstuffed bear. "Wait, woah! Are you seriously doing this?"

"Why not?" Tony muttered. The genius paused and looked at the long row of possible choices. "You want to try one?"

"Hell no. I may look like a kid but I ain't acting like one," Clint growled as Tony shifting over to the filling station right beside him. The boy glanced over the display of bears and one of the bears caught his eye. His hands itched with the desire to grab it and follow Tony's lead but Clint shook his head and turned to follow Tony. A bored looking employee gave the genius a fake smile before realizing who he was smiling at. The smile fell away and turned into a stunned expression.

"Tony Stark?" the boy asked in a stutter. Tony nodded and handed over the bear. The boy looked at it in surprise before looking at the billionaire. For once it didn't click in the boy's mind that Tony Stark would seriously be standing before him, asking to make a bear. It took an extra minute before the boy snapped to attention. He glanced over at Clint a second later and his eyes widened in realization. Knowing what the boy thought, Clint backed away and shook his head.

"Uh un. Not mine," Clint declared, raising his hands up. There was no way in hell that Clint was going to get blackmailed by Tony later for making a bear at Build-A-Bear. The employee glanced back up at Tony. His mind couldn't focus on a good enough reason for why Tony Stark would want to build a bear. Especially the particular bear that the billionaire was holding. Fearing that this was a test set up by his supervisor, the employee gently took the bear from Tony's outstretched hand. Leaning back, he turned on the stuffing machine before glancing back at Tony.

"Ummm... Are you gonna do all the steps?" the boy asked as a small family picked out their own sets of bears and lined up behind Tony. Tony's eyes widened in surprise as he briefly wondered what steps he might be asked to do before shrugging and nodding. The steps couldn't be that bad as this place was actually meant for little kids. Wouldn't be good to have little kids do something that would be too bad for adults to do in public. Beginning to feel more confident in himself, the boy grabbed a pen off his lanyard and reached for the tag still strapped to the bear's ear. "Is this for you or for someone else?"

"Me," Tony seriously replied. The boy nodded before writing something on the bottom of the tag. Tony paused for a moment. Then he grimaced and looked over at Clint who snorted. "Well, technically me. But really it's a joke on a friend."

"Well, the bear now belongs to you, if that's okay," the employee said before ripping off the little tag and placing it inside the bear. Tony shrugged not really caring one way or another. Clint stepped back as another family joined the line forming behind the genius. At first the family was distracted with conversation but suddenly one of the parents noticed it was Tony Stark before them and pointed it out. The other parent then pulled out their phone and began recording. Clint smirked. He was so glad that this was getting recorded. But then he wondered, why wasn't he doing it? So, with that, Clint pulled out his own phone and pressed record just as the employee removed a rather large and redundant red stopper off the stuffing machine before replacing it with the bear. "If you could do me the favor of pressing down on that pedal and we'll bring your bear to life!"

"Okay," Tony laughed, thinking that the boy was slipping into his normal routine. He was rather glad. In truth, he actually hated when people treated him differently just because of who he was. It didn't take long for the bear to become full of stuffing. The force and actions of creating it, shifted the legs into a sitting position and the arms up and pointing out as if asking for a hug. Keeping the bear on the metal stuffer, the employee leaned back and turned off the machine even with Tony still pressing the pedal. With a frown, Tony backed off as the boy pulled the bear off and replaced the red stopper. Checking to make sure the stuffing wouldn't fall out, the boy held the bear up for Tony's inspection.

"Okay, can you take him and give him a tight squeeze. Move him all around, make sure he is stuffed properly. Wouldn't want him too full or too soft," the boy called. Tony gently took the bear and began hugging and squeezing it in all types of ways. A pleased smile came to his face after a minute before he handed the bear back with a nod. Glad that he pleased Tony Stark with the first try, the boy continued, shifting into a more kid friendly attitude. The kids behind Tony began chuckling at the whole thing. "Thank you. Now, we have two types of hearts here. One that beats when you squeeze it and a small free one."

Without a word, Tony grabbed the free heart. It wasn't that he didn't want to pay more money for the bear. He just didn't like the idea of a beating heart in a toy bear. For some reason he felt if a toy had a beating heart, it meant it could up rise against the human race. On a side note, this is why Pepper refused to let Tony watch any of the _Toy Story_ movies. The boy nodded, unfazed by Tony's decision. But when Tony went to hand the heart over, the employee shook his head. Clint smirked, this was the bit he was waiting for. While he had never gone to a Build-A-Bear himself, there were videos on youtube that he caught when he was extremely bored.

"Stuffing is only the first step in bringing your bear to life. Now we have to start his heart. So, rub it in your hands to make sure he is always warm," the employee ordered. Clint snickered along with a few of the parents in the line. Tony rolled his eyes at Clint's humor before doing as he was told. "Now rub it on your head so he is as smart as you."

"Hey Legolas, the bear is going to be smarter than you!" Tony joked as he rubbed the heart against his temple. The line behind him began chuckling as the employee snorted. Clint just shook his head.

"Yeah well, right now you don't seem all that smart," Clint laughed. Tony rolled his eyes again before waiting for a new order.

"Now rub your ears so he will be able to listen to all your worries," the boy added. Tony nodded and did such. Everyone again chuckled. "Now rub your nose so he'll know your scent.

"Seriously?" Clint remarked. The employee shrugged. It was in his training to do each and every step. Sometimes the steps differed a little but mostly it was just the explanation as to why. Tony did the step without question.

"Rub your back so he'll always have your back in bad situations and good," the employee continued, unfazed by Clint's comments. Clint snorted as Tony did the step. "Jump up and down so you can start his heart beats."

"Wow, lot of stuff just to make a bear," Tony muttered before doing such. By now the line of people had turned into a small crowd around the group. Many had pulled their phones out and were recording. The rest just enjoyed watching Tony Stark ‘humiliate’ himself to make a bear. Too bad they didn't realize that Tony wasn't humiliated. In fact, Tony was having a lot of fun.

"Now do a super silly dance so he can be a party animal and then give it a kiss so he knows love," the boy finished. With a roll of his eyes at Clint's bark of laughter, Tony did a silly dance that really looked like he was just flailing his limbs. Clint and the crowd cracked up in laughter at Tony's dance. Once done, Tony kissed the heart and quickly handed it over to the employee who was now smirking.

"I better hear all those same steps for these kids," Tony lightly threatened as he pointed to the line. The boy looked surprised before nodded as he accepted the heart and pushed it into the bear. Quickly sewing the bear up, the boy then puffed the fur around the stitch and handed it to Tony. The billionaire nodded and moved off. Clint snorted as he turned off the recording and then powered down his phone but as he went to follow, Tony spun around and pointed two fingers at his eyes and then pointed back to the boy who was nervously working on a new bear.

"Dude, come on, let's get this over with," Clint groaned as Tony moved to what looked to be a small tub filled with water and bubbles. Just to make Clint suffer more, Tony slowly brushed every inch of the bear to make sure the fur was fluffed just right. Rolling his eyes, Clint spun around and began to leave the store. Feeling like Tony didn't notice, Clint glanced back in time to see that Tony had moved onto the outfit and was skimming through a particular design as if looking for the best one before picking it and moving on. Shaking his head, Clint rejoined Happy outside the store.

"Is he almost done?" Happy questioned, feeling antsy about the crowd that had begun to gather after Tony decided to make a bear. Clint glanced back again. It was difficult to spot Tony for a moment before he notice the genius sitting at a rather outdated looking computer. The genius was typing away.

"I think so," Clint replied, more as a pray then a definite answer. Happy nodded and relaxed against the railing. Clint turned around to look down at the lower floor of the mall. "Does he always do stuff like this?"

"Mr. Stark didn't have much of a real childhood. So... A lot of what he does now is to make up for it," Happy admitted. Clint nodded, understanding that feeling more than ever. Not having that great of a childhood himself, Clint tended to act more childish than normal people. He wouldn't go to the same extreme as Tony but then again. If Clint had been a billionaire, he might have. Tony took that moment to join them, holding the bear in his hands.

"Meet Stevie!" Tony demanded of the duo as he thrust the bear into their faces. Happy glanced at it before cracking up laughing. Clint smiled, glad that Happy enjoyed the same joke as Tony. Tony was grinning as big a Cheshire cat.

"Did you seriously just build a Captain America bear and dress it up as Iron Man?" Happy snorted in amusement. Tony's grin got even bigger. Indeed, the bear was mostly a blue furred bear with the Captain America shield emblem designed all over it and the poor bear was dressed in an outfit that was designed to look like the Mock 42.

"Yup!" Clint shook his head, done with this situation, before sighing deeply and walking off. For a brief moment Clint looked back into the store and noticed another bear next to the display of the Captain America bear. It was a green bear label Hulk. As tempting as it was, Clint feared Bruce's response much more than the enjoyment of making it. Beside that was a Thor and the Iron Man bear. The archer’s steps stuttered. Why hadn’t Tony chosen his own bear?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys almost didn't get a chapter this week. I am sooo tired and aggravated with life that just looking at the story was getting me upset. Ugh. But, I powered through.
> 
> Darius is good. Itching like mad at the moment and overall just bugging the crap out of me. But, that's on me, not on him. My anxiety is like sky high and basically, him breathing can tick me off. I'm doing my best to not yell at him but he has been acting out just a little (which seriously doesn't help). In other news, he has a Covid scare at his school. Someone in the place has tested positive for it and 'all the appropriate people have personally been informed who it is' while the rest of us just get a generic message. I am glad they are warning us but at the same time... Basically the entire school has been infected to a degree. Anyways, nothing we can do about it now.


	8. Bruce?

The return to the tower started uneventful. Though Clint was tempted to kill Tony by the middle of it. The billionaire kept pushing the new bear into Clint's face while claiming they should hug and kiss. For some reason, Tony had it in his mind that Stevie and Clint had gotten into a fight and Clint needed to get over it and soothe Stevie, who was the one who was most hurt by the fight. When Clint declined, Tony would drop the subject long enough to let Stevie look out the window and sulk before turning back to the de-aged archer.

By the fifth time having the bear shoved in his face, Clint was ready to tear the offending object apart. But he knew that that was over reacting and that it’d be childish to do so. Never mind that it would likely _seriously_ hurt Tony’s feelings. Sadly, Tony had no clue about Clint’s ire as the archer was good at hiding it and nearing the time to do it for what might have been Stevie’s last time. Thankfully none of them had to worry about the consequences cause as Tony was about to do it, his phone rang, distracting him from the whole situation.

"Oh! Maybe Brucie is finally getting back to me!" Tony declared excitedly as he dropped Stevie into the seat between the archer and himself before grabbing for his phone. Clint gave the genius a slightly fake pleased smile. His gaze dropped to the bear as he mentally debated tossing it across the car before shaking his head and looking out the window without touching the stuffed creature. Tony answered his phone and placed it on speaker before dropping it on the small table across the floor in front of him. Clint rolled his eyes, not knowing that Tony had been trying to get a hold of Bruce to speak about Clint's condition. "Hey, Brucie-bear!"

"Tony, it's Steve," came the breathy and slightly panicked reply. Clint straightened in his seat, surprised by the sound of Steve's voice. Something was wrong. Clint knew it deep in his gut. Instinct told him to pay attention to everything that Steve said and everything that Clint heard. The boy's ears tuned into the phone, listening for every labored breath.

He could hear the sounds of the convention in the background. Loud and hard to clearly get words, but Clint’s ears (at age 6) were pretty much normal so he had better luck understanding some of it. Most conversations were boring life conversations or about upcoming panels and the like. A group of girls passed by Steve and squealed in delight as soon as they thought they were out of his line of attention. For half a second Clint thought that was odd but then he remembered that Steve was enhanced due to science, of course these people would likely act like that. Then someone bumped into the solider and murmured some sort of apology that Steve was too distracted too return. Confused as to why Steve was calling, Tony picked the phone up so he could listen in better.

"Where's Bruce?" Tony asked, feeling like it should have been his science buddy to call rather than the super solider. The genius focused on the archer beside him. He could tell that Clint was tense and that something was off. But Clint was hiding what was wrong and right now Tony could only focus on so much and the conversation with Steve, Clint being six, the serum that Bruce created, and what would happen if the Avengers were called was basically what his thoughts was limited too right now.

A long distressed sigh came through the phone. Clint shifted in his seat. This was so not good. The archer could already tell what was going to be said next. It was easier now to tell that Steve was not with Bruce and walking quickly through the convention. He had bumped into numerous amounts of people and hadn't said anything about it, something that wasn't normal for the Captain. Which also meant that Steve was beginning to panic a bit.

"I... I can't find him," Steve admitted. Silence followed that for a few seconds. Tony was shocked. Bruce was missing. Clint was a six year old kid. And Bruce was the only one who _likely_ knew how to fix it. How else could this get any worse? Clint focused sharply on the phone. He could tell that the solider had waited a while to inform them of such an event. Something that was detrimental in this type of situation but... The super solider had tried to find Bruce and had failed was pretty bad. It meant that Bruce had either left the event or had been taken. "A crowd split us up! I watched him for most of it but then I bumped into someone. When I looked again, Bruce was gone! I've tried calling him but no one answers and I've looked everywhere!"

"JARVIS, trace Bruce's phone and show the Captain where it is," Tony demanded of his phone. Knowing that JARVIS was connected to each of their phones, Steve and Clint didn't comment. Within seconds a beep came through the line. The sounds of Steve's breathing vanished and filled with the distant sounds of many voices.

"He isn't that far," Steve answered, softer than before. Clint frowned, already knowing where this was going. Steve wasn't stupid. He didn't miss an area to look. Steve was just hoping that he was wrong and that maybe Bruce had double backed on him or something. But Clint doubted it. Tony smirked, glad that JARVIS proved helpful yet again. The sounds of Steve slipping through a crowd, echoed through the car. "Thanks!"

"No, hang on! I need to speak to Bruce," Tony called before Steve could hang up. There was a soft hum of confirmation before a beat of silence only disturbed by the crowd around the solider. Tony assumed that Steve may have hung up and began messing with his phone to make sure that wasn't true. Clint raised an eyebrow at Tony's insistence of speaking to Bruce as the six year old had no idea that Tony knew what had caused him to de-age. There was a distressed snort on the other end of the line suddenly. "Steve?"

"Tony... It's gonna be real hard for you to talk to Bruce," Steve said, sounding louder than before. Clint assumed the phone had been moved back. Tony frowned before fearing that Steve had found Bruce's dead body or something. "Bruce isn't with his phone."

*~*~*~*~*~

The moment they arrived at the tower, Tony snapped open the door and took off. By the time Clint got out of the car and followed after, the elevator door was closing. Clint cussed. In the parking lot there was only one elevator to bring people up and down or the stairs. Technically, Clint could easily go to the stairs and up to the lobby where there was like eight elevators (all of which headed to at least one part of the Avenger’s part of the tower). But, Clint was actually pretty tired. He kinda wanted to rest for a bit. So, he waited.

Thanks to Tony’s design of the elevators, it returned to the parking lot only a minute or less later. Clint headed in and pressed the button for Tony’s lab. When the elevator didn’t move, Clint looked right to the camera and frowned. “I am sorry but... Sir asked to be left along for the moment.”

“But... Alright,” Clint started to argue before figuring it wasn’t worth it. Sighing, he pressed the button for his rooms. The elevator started moving.

“I feel I should warn you that there has been a delivery that was sent to your rooms,” JARVIS added before the doors opened again. Clint nodded.

“Thanks.” He headed inside and then froze. There were close to fifty or sixty bags of items. “Holy crap.”

“Sir tends to over buy,” JARVIS warned. Clint winced.

“I see that.” Sighing, Clint headed deeper into his room and looked into the first bag. It was one of the bags that held the Avengers toys. “Jesus.”

JARVIS didn’t add anything else to the conversation and Clint had no idea what to say anymore so... He slowly started going through the bags in an attempt to find all the clothes. Something like half the lot was clothes. Grimacing, Clint grabbed them all and headed into the bedroom and then to the closet. He grabbed the first shirt with a deep sigh. It was a shirt he had picked. Groaning a small bit, Clint yanked the tag off before folding it neatly. Then he placed the shirt on his bed.

He sorted quickly. For all the clothes he picked, he removed the tags and neatly folded them. All the clothes that Tony ended up picking were either hung in the closet with the tags still in tack or folded and put into a separate pile from the other one. Clint half wondered if he could return them after he was brought back to his normal age but figured Tony more than likely wouldn't let him and for some reason, after thinking it, Clint found he really didn’t want to return any of it. To be honest, he actually dealt with the clothes Tony had gotten him more carefully then the ones he had picked.

As he continued to sort all the clothes, he was slightly stunned to realize that he now had more clothing for his six year old frame than for his normal adult frame. He had never really been one to want too many clothes. Normally, he only owned what could get him through a week or two. But since moving into the tower, Clint had become almost... Complacent and had splurged a little. But even Clint's splurging had nothing on this one trip with Tony. And the billionaire had mentioned possibly going out again!

Glancing around the room quickly, Clint began to realize how much Tony had actually done for him and the other Avengers. After Manhattan, Tony redesigned the entire top of the tower as an Avengers home base. Then, after another ‘villain’ attack, Tony redesigned everything again with actual input from the others. The top floor held Clint's room and Natasha's room. Actually, Clint should restate that as the top floor held Clint's two bedroom apartment and Natasha's two bedroom apartment.

The floor below theirs was Pepper's and Tony's floor (yes, the entire floor). And below that was Steve's floor which was a three bedroom apartment, that was part time shared with Thor until the god stated otherwise, and a gym built specifically to hold not only the super solider but also Thor and Hulk. Everyone tended to use this gym so it was slightly split off from Steve's actual living area.

The next floor was Bruce's floor. He had specifically asked for a one bedroom so his floor was also split into a 'small' lab that was where the scientist would tend to hang out if Tony was too busy. At Natasha's and Bruce's request, the next floor was the gun/archery range. Technically, Bruce asked that the floor below him held nothing important while Natasha asked for the range but Tony compromised. Below that was a large common floor that held a living room, communal kitchen, movie theater room, and a library. The bottom floors were various other apartments/rooms for any guests that may arrive at the tower and wasn't invited into the Avengers floors.

A soft knock on Clint's door made the archer pause in his reorganizing of his clothes. He almost had too many younger clothes to fit in the one dresser that Tony had provided (even _with_ taking out the older clothes). And he certainly hadn't had have enough hangers. Shaking his head, Clint moved into the other room to answer his door. He wasn't surprised to see Pepper on the other side. She gave him a soft smile before the duo walked back into Clint's bedroom to continue sorting through the clothes.

Pepper's eyes widened at the amount but didn't comment on it. She knew sending Clint out with Tony would make the boy spend more than normal. Natasha had mentioned to her once that Clint only bought what was needed and it was normally never enough. Pepper had tried shopping with the archer once before but he somehow turned the trip into shopping for the CEO. She still had no idea how he did it.

"How are you doing?" Pepper asked as she grabbed a few of the shirts that Clint had already sorted. Holding up one of the shirts, she silently asked where it belonged. Clint nodded toward the dresser as he shrugged at her earlier question. He was too unsure how she wanted him to answer. Hell, he was unsure of his answer. This whole thing was so messed up. There was no right or wrong answer to this. Actually, since joining the Avengers, Clint was never really sure how he was doing. Things just kept on happening and he could barely deal with the first issue before another one popped up. "Tony told me about Bruce."

"Yeah?" Clint replied. Pepper nodded as she reached for an Iron Man shirt next. She smiled as Clint rolled his eyes and pointed to his closet. Nodding, she moved over there and a soft chuckle escaped her when she noticed the other shirts. Clint groaned lightly, showing his displeasure (as fake as it was) at the outfits. Pepper's smile increased even as she decided to not mention the clothing that she was certain had been Tony's idea. She had seen them before while out shopping and had been tempted to buy some for the Avengers but could never find each shirt in each Avenger's size.

"Bruce is missing?" Pepper clarified as she hung up the shirt and moved back. She almost wondered if she should mention that Tony would remove all other clothing if Clint never wore the shirts the genius had bought. But she figured Clint would figure it out later. And if Clint tried protesting that by walking around topless, then, the genius did have a stash of his old kids clothes somewhere around the tower. She wouldn't be surprised if those made an appearance.

"I, uh... I think Bruce may have been kidnapped," Clint said, harshly ripping a tag off a pair of jeans. Pepper paused as she frowned before looking over to Clint in surprise. Tony hadn't even mentioned that as a possibility. Heck, he hadn't even mentioned that Clint mentioned it. But as she looked at the boy, she noticed that Clint may not have said that to even Tony. The archer didn't even seem to realize that he said it to her. "I know Tony doesn't think so. I mean, who would kidnap Hulk? But, I think that's why he was taken."

"Ross?" Pepper questioned, having known Bruce's history with the stupid General. Clint shook his head. Ross wasn't one to set something up like this. He was one to attack up front. Not hide in the shadows. Ross would make a spectacle out of it. Brag, make a show. Hell, he would have been waiting at the front gates for Bruce and Steve if it was him. Then again, after his kidnapping of Clint, Ross had been rather quiet.

"From what Steve said before, Bruce hadn't spoken to this 'old friend' in a long time. Then suddenly, this man has the answer to a problem he just got? Why not e-mail the answer? Or call? Why do they have to meet in person? And why at a convention, surrounded by innocent people?" Clint pointed out. Pepper gasped at the revelation that Clint had valid points as to what happened. It was almost as if someone created this story line by watching too much TV. But she didn't want to believe it. "S.H.I.E.L.D has been protecting Bruce as much as possible. There were... No, are, various groups that would love to get their hands on Bruce."

"Do you know who could have taken him?" Clint shook his head. Sadly there were too many answers to that. And if Clint was wrong, it would lead them too far down the wrong path. Also it would give the real kidnappers more time to escape. Frustrated, Clint slammed a drawer close harder than needed. Pepper jumped at the sudden sound. Spinning to face Clint, she was surprised to see him breathing harshly as he used the dresser to support himself. "Are you okay?"

"No. I... I need to do something! I need to help!" Clint growled into the dresser. Pepper took a step forward, intending on soothing the archer but hesitated. Would Clint accept her touch or turn and attack? Deciding it better to stay back, she stopped. Natasha had warned her many times that Clint and physical contact were not good. Even Clint had mentioned it. So Pepper never tried to surprise him with contact.

"Why don't you?" Clint spun around to face her. Fire was burning in his eyes from anger at his situation. Pepper almost stepped back in fear but she knew that Clint would never intentionally hurt her.

"What can I do? I'm a six-year old boy! I can't contact S.H.I.E.L.D, my contacts won't believe what happened to me! Hell, Tony wouldn't even tell Steve about me!" Pepper gasped, beginning to wonder if Clint would hurt her. She had never really been on the receiving end of one of Clint's angered tirades. It was rather terrifying. Knowing it wasn't good to be afraid of the archer, Pepper continued on. She just put on a brave face and stood her ground like she normally did in board meetings with Stark Industries.

"Do you think he should have?" Clint froze in shock. Pepper sighed, glad that the anger had vanished. Would it have made a difference if Steve knew? Would the super solider have been distracted with the knowledge of Clint being six? Knowing Steve as well as he now did, Clint could only sigh and shake his head no. Pepper gave the archer a sympathetic smile. She was always in this type of position with Tony. Anytime he needed help, she couldn't really offer any. So she knew how much just being there helped. "I know it's hard. You want to help Bruce but you don't know how. Sometimes, just supporting or encouraging the ones who can is a big help."

Clint nodded his head. Getting that Pepper was talking from experience. He jerked his head up in surprise. Experience! Though Clint was six-years old in body, his mind still had all his adult experience. He hadn't thought about that. This was almost like when he watched the Tesseract. Though he never touched the object, from a distance he was able to see what none of the scientists saw. Smiling at the CEO, Clint rushed out of his apartment. Stunned, Pepper quickly followed after while calling the archer's name.

"Clint!" He glanced back at her as he reached the doorway to the stairs. Her confused face stared back at him from his door.

"I always did see better from a distance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darius is good. Currently playing on the floor in front of me. Had a blizzard hit in the middle of the week and so we got a lot of snow. I haven't brought him outside (most cause I don't want to be outside). But hopefully he'll be able to go either later today with the hubby or over the weekend with the grandparents. I'm thinking likely the weekend. Nothing too big going on other than that...
> 
> Okay, for Christmas... Do you guys want a one shot of some kind or the first chapter for a story that won't get fully published for a while? I'm thinking one shot and would be more than willing to accept an idea so please let me know! Thanks!


	9. Playing Catch-up

Clint found Tony in his lab surrounded by monitors displaying hundreds of different images. Watching them for a few seconds, Clint concluded that Tony had hacked in the science convention's security footage and the traffic cameras from around that area. For half a second Clint was reminded once again how much the world would be screwed if Tony ever decided to become a super villain and he could only send a mental thanks to whoever was keeping that from happening. Then Clint looked over the amount of images and he couldn’t help but wonder how the genius was paying attention to each monitor. But then he figured that JARVIS might also be going through the data along with Tony. Why the AI needed each monitor to go through, Clint couldn't explain but it was a better explanation then Tony watching each monitor. Frowning, the archer debated calling the genius on his ability to hack those places or just to let it drop. Considering Tony only tended to do something like this to help his friends, Clint let it drop. Standing further back, Clint began to sort through the images, trying to see if he could catch something.

"Come on Brucie, where are you?" Tony softly questioned the images. Clint frowned. He hadn't realized how close Tony had gotten to each of them in close to a years time. Everyone had always said that the genius was highly distrustful and tended to ‘blow off’ those he didn’t really care for. It was kind of nice to actually see it directed toward someone else. Course the feeling was ruined when Clint realized that Tony was like this cause Bruce may be in danger. Shaking his head, Clint moved forward in an effort to follow Pepper's advice. He needed to support Tony.

"Where did Steve find Bruce's phone?" Clint muttered softly to the genius as he appeared behind his back. The billionaire jumped in surprise at the boy's sudden appearance. Thankfully, Tony had gotten used to having the spies sneaking up on him, so he didn't become too distracted. Instead, Tony went right back to work with a mumbling of getting the archer a bell.

"Over there," Tony replied as he pointed to a monitor on his left. Clint focused on it. Right now the image was of Steve standing in the middle of two stands while looking between them. Security wandered back and forth, disappearing behind the stands as they did so. Clint figured there must be a small aisle way that no monitor could show. A perfect place to nab the doctor. "Can't get a good image of between there."

"What did it look like before?" Clint mumbled, reaching for the monitor. Considering it was a hologram, the monitor moved toward Clint as he moved it about. Automatically, it rewound to just before Bruce vanished. Almost as if Tony had JARVIS save that time frame. Steve and Bruce were just starting to be pushed apart by a crowd of people. Clint focused on Bruce. He saw the doc glance toward Steve before retreating down that aisle way. Then nothing. "He panicked because of the crowd."

"Yeah well, unless there is a teleportation device hidden there, Bruce just vanished," Tony remarked. Clint nodded, having assumed as much. With everyone examining the area, Clint could tell he wouldn't get any clues from there. Never mind that this group was smart enough and patient enough to wait for this convention, they wouldn't ruin it by making a petty mistake.

"Did you check behind the stands?" Tony paused in his typing. Clint smiled, knowing he had caught the genius. Sometimes being smart got in the way of simple solutions. Spinning to face the correct monitor, Tony began furiously typing once again. Another monitor and the monitor showing Bruce rewound to the same time and shifted to sit in front of the billionaire. Clint watched in one as Bruce slunk into the aisle. Turning to the other, he waited a minute or two before a small group of people exited. They split off into two different directions but one group stood out to Clint. He pointed to them. "Them. Follow them."

Tony nodded, trusting Clint to know what he was doing as he focused on the group the archer had pointed at. Using JARVIS, the genius was able to follow them to the parking lot. But the camera where the group supposedly parked was down and so they couldn't see what car they got into. Frowning, Tony had JARVIS calculate how many cars exited over the next hour. It ended up being way too many. Tony cursed. It was the same issue as before. If he followed the wrong one, it could give the kidnappers a higher chance of getting away.

"Like a hundred cars leave over the next hour. Bruce could be in any one of them," Tony complained. Clint frowned. He didn't think they would have left like that. Even if Tony followed each car, it wouldn't be long until Tony found them again. They needed a different plan. Clint almost cursed his slow mind. Being six again was making him sloppy. This was bad. And dangerous for Bruce. Shaking his head, Clint focused on the genius. He had to help the best he could right now.

"Pull up the building schematics," Clint ordered. Tony frowned, wondering what Clint was getting too. After a moment where Tony debated smacking his forehead, the genius realized that though Clint was ‘currently’ six, he still was technically a spy and assassin. There had to have been at least once where Clint had to capture someone or kidnap them. Nodding his head to Clint, Tony did as ordered. Clint stared at it for a moment before glancing up to the camera that JARVIS used to watch Tony. "JARVIS, can you please show me where the downed camera is and the path that both groups took from the booth?"

"Certainly Agent Barton," JARVIS intoned, pleased that Clint was rather polite in his request. Tony grumbled a little at the change that the archer provided for the AI. Clint ignored him as he silently stared at the schematics. The path that JARVIS highlighted had both groups disappearing right after reaching a downed camera. Clint frowned. Two downed cameras at a convention? Especially two cameras in the parking lot. It was too much of a coincidence. Tony flipped back and forth between looking at Clint and the monitors as if watching the archer could tell the genius what he was looking for. After a bit, the genius got too anxious not knowing what was going on.

"What do you see?" Clint glanced at Tony but didn't reply to him.

"JARVIS, can you possibly line this schematic against all sewer, subway, and electric lines?" Clint added. Without replying himself, JARVIS did as asked. Within seconds, Clint pointed to a spot just after the image cut from the down monitor. "There."

"That leads to the subways, right?" Tony asked, leaning forward to look at where Clint was pointing. Clint nodded.

"The main problem is that this subway line also connects to the sewers and two other lines. We have no way of knowing if they followed the subway or switched to one of the other areas. Never mind if they back tracked toward the station," Clint pointed out. Tony nodded, realizing as much as he looked at the monitor. "These guys are good."

"Well, we'll have to be better," Tony growled. Clint nodded but wasn't sure if they could be. So far they seemed to be at least two steps behind whoever this was. And they certainly weren't at the top of their game. With Clint at only six, Thor and Natasha away, and Steve stuck at the convention, there was just too much going against them. "I'll call Steve and let him know. JARVIS, try checking all paths they could have taken and see if you can find them. Also, track those cars. They could have driven off and are using the lines as a distraction."

"Yes sir," JARVIS called as Tony reached for his cell phone which wasn't placed too far away. The genius then looked to Clint.

"Isn't much we can do now. Why don't you check with Pepper?" Tony pretty much demanded. Clint frowned before realizing that Tony may want to show Steve the evidence they found and neither of them wanted the solider distracted. Nodding, the archer turned and left. As soon as he was out the door, Tony began calling. The door closed just as Steve answered.

"What did you find?"

\----------

After leaving the lab (which was the first floor that separated Stark Industries from the Avengers’s HQ) and Tony's presence, Clint headed up to the communal floor. He believed that Pepper would either be there, or in Tony's and her bedroom, or down below in her office at Stark Industries. Not finding her on the communal floor, Clint debated asking JARVIS where she was. Just to save himself the trouble of wandering around. It didn't really matter to him where she was cause he wasn't concerned with her safety. Out of all of the people living in Avenger's tower, Pepper was actually the safest. Or second safest if one wanted to consider the fact that Bruce couldn't be killed thanks to Hulk. But he could still be taken and Pepper kind of wouldn't. See, Pepper was too high profile to be kidnapped by villains and used against the Avengers. Too much was at stake in going after her, so no one wanted to mess with her. But then again, considering what just happened to Clint and Tony wasn't sure how to fix it...

"JARVIS, where's Pepper?" Clint called, feeling better if he knew where the CEO was. He had figured that no one wanted to mess with Bruce and here they were, trying to find out who took Bruce. It was best to know. Especially for his peace of mind given what was going on. Though he knew that Pepper wasn't in trouble, Clint just needed to know. It was for the best.

"Miss Potts had to go downstairs for an important Stark Industries safety meeting. It happens once a month and can last all night long," JARVIS replied, figuring that Clint was asking because he needed to speak with her. Clint nodded, unconcerned with the added information. If Pepper was at SI, then JARVIS was watching over her and she was safe. Hell, SI was the safest place for her. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Nah, I'm good," Clint answered just as his stomach rumbled in hunger. At that, the archer paused, glaring at his stomach as if it intentionally betrayed him, while he waited for the AI to comment. Mentally, he heard JARVIS laughing like Tony would at the situation. Thankfully, the AI didn't make a single sound. Almost like he was ignoring the archer. Clint figured it was just cause JARVIS was actually really nice and not like his creator at all and shrugged it off.

Focusing on why his stomach growled, Clint realized the last time he had actually eaten was the day before. It had been the soup that Pepper had given him. The worst part was that he actually hadn't even eaten that much. How had that happened? Hadn't Tony mentioned eating when they went shopping? When did they skip that? Why did they skip that? Heck, why did it take his stomach so long to mention that he was rather hungry? At this age, it should have made more of a fuss... Then again, at this age, Clint had tended to be starved a lot. That would explain why it took so long. He wasn’t going to get the normal ques that his body had been giving him since joining S.H.I.E.L.D and getting access to three meals a day, plus snacks.

Sighing, the archer headed to the kitchen with every intention of making food. He had no idea what he'd make or even if he'd find anything. Sometimes there was nothing in the kitchen cause Steve or Bruce had raided it beforehand and other times there was too much food for him to actually make a choice. Clint actually really hated that. When he had the choice of what to eat, he usually either overate, or just stared at the food until someone came in and saw him staring. That normally always turned into embarrassing conversations...

" _Clint, why aren't you getting anything to eat?_ "

" _Is there any food?_ "

" _What's up? Something not to your liking?_ ”

" _You feeling hot or just wanted to cool off the floor some?_ "

Oh the questions didn't end there. Some of them were even worse. It all depended on who caught him staring at the food. Bruce and Steve tended to be nicer were as Tony and Natasha tended to make fun of him. Then again... Bruce and Steve both knew what it was like to starve and sometimes Clint would catch the two of them staring at the fridge, lost in decision making as well. But he would just back away and act as if he hadn't seen them. Tony and Natasha hadn't been starved. Well, Natasha supposedly hadn't been. She claimed she had been a few times but, Clint had never really seen her show any signs of past tendencies like Bruce, Steve and himself have tended to show.

It didn't take the boy long to reach the kitchen and shake out of his memories of past encounters with his friends. He first hit the fridge where he found turkey slices, cheese slices and mayo. Smiling he grabbed them and closed the door. Turning, he placed them on the island behind him. Walking over to the cabinets, he grabbed the bread and pulled out enough slices for three sandwiches. While there, he noticed a bag of Doritos and Lays chips. Smiling, he mentally set a   
reminder to grab them. Turning back, he made a turkey sandwich and a cheese sandwich. The rest of the bread he intended to eat plain. Grabbing the rest of the turkey and cheese, he returned them to the fridge and pulled out a beer and a can of soda (his normal drinks). Spinning back to the bags of chips, he grabbed them as well. Placing them with his sandwiches and bread, he thought better about what he had. With a thoughtful frown, he began looking through cabinets were he pulled out Pop Tarts, graham crackers and some Ritz crackers.

Pleased with his 'haul,' Clint headed down to the communal living room. There he plopped down on the couch and relaxed back. Slowly, he spread the food out around him. Some of it on the couch cushions while others ended on the table in front of him. Taking a huge bite of out his sandwich, Clint prepared to relax for a bit. There wasn't much more he could do now. Tony was talking to Steve, Steve wasn't allowed to know he was six, Bruce was missing and Clint had done all his could to help... The rest of that was time based. Pepper was in a meeting so... Ah... Swallowing the bite, Clint realized he missed one step in his relaxing faze.

"JARVIS, can you please put something on that I don't need to pay attention too?" Clint called to the AI. JARVIS didn't reply. Instead the TV flickered on and a Disney logo came up. Clint snorted in humor at the choice but didn't tell JARVIS to turn it off. After Tony had learned about everyone's lack of pop culture knowledge, the genius demanded that they watch a large collection of movies. Most of them, lately, were childish movies or even stupid comedies. But the others felt it was just easier to watch everything then deal with Tony insulting them. Most times, these movies were watched as a group bonding night event. But sometimes, someone missed one due to them being out of the tower and no way to return. This particular movie, _The Little Mermaid_ , was watched as a group while Clint was away.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" JARVIS softly inquired over the opening of the movie. The AI debated if he should mention that Clint shouldn't be drinking beer in his current state. But figuring that Clint wouldn't stop anyways, JARVIS just let the archer continue. Something that the AI had learned to do when dealing with Tony as well. A lot of times it was just easier to sit back and watch the issue than fight and seethe in anger of loosing after. Clint shook his head, swallowing the last bit of his turkey sandwich. He smirked at Sebastian cueing up the band. This was going to be perfect.

"Nah, just keep the videos coming," Clint answered as he grabbed for some more of his food. JARVIS acknowledged Clint by preparing two different queues. One was filled with movies that Clint had missed while away or sick. The other had movies that Clint had already seen. By 'Part of Your World,' Clint had finished eating and drinking. A huge yawn swept across his face as he settled down. JARVIS dimmed the lights. By the end of 'Poor Unfortunate Souls,' Clint was gently snoring away. Glad that the archer was finally resting, JARVIS noted the time of 8:49 pm and turned down the volume. When the movie finished, JARVIS switched to the list Clint had already seen.

This list was mostly filled with Disney movies. JARVIS saw no harm in continuing with that theme seeing as Clint didn't disagree and with his current age, that was the best genre. A few months before hand, Tony had gotten into that mood of just wanting to watch Disney movies. He just kept them coming and no one had been able to break him out of it. The others didn't really mind, in fact they tended to really enjoy the movies, but at the same time they wanted it to end. It was actually surprising how much they all tended to enjoy watching movies from their childhood era. Then again, considering how many of them actually really ‘enjoyed’ a full length childhood era, it was more like they were getting one now.

JARVIS was able to play six and a half movies before someone else came into the room. The AI wasn't surprised to see it was Pepper. Nor was he surprised to see that she was absolutely miserable. Though most of the tenants in Avenger's tower could go without sleep and look unaffected, Pepper did need her sleep. Never mind the fact that Pepper just had to deal with a SI meeting about security. Those types of meetings tended to take a lot out of the CEO to begin with and now she did it on less sleep than normal. No, JARVIS was not surprised that she looked the way she did.

Pepper slunk into the room, not even paying attention to her surroundings. _Tangled_ was currently playing on the TV. 'Mother Knows Best Reprise' just started as she dropped into the closest chair she could reach. She kicked off her heels and plopped back into the cushions with a loud sigh before she began hearing the familiar sounds of the song. Perking up a little, she looked to the TV. A smile spread across her face. This was actually one of her most recent favorite Disney films. So much so that she secretly hoarded a small roam full of _Tangled_ memorabilia that was worth a rather large sum of money. Only Natasha knew of this secret obsession and sometimes added to it. The CEO chuckled at the movie.

" _Tangled_? JARVIS should I be worried?" she asked, not realizing someone else was in the room with her. In her mind, the AI was watching the movie by himself. JARVIS used his massive control of the tower's electronics to brighten a light over Clint's sleeping form before quickly dimming it when the CEO glanced over. Her smile grew as she leaned forward to stare at the sleeping archer. He had dropped down onto his side at some point and his face was crushed into an empty Lays bag.

As silently as she could, she dug into her pants and pulled out her phone. Loading up the camera app, Pepper aimed it at the sleeping boy. The shuttering click that the phone made while snapping the picture made Clint jerk awake in seconds. Pepper jumped in surprise but knew better than to speak to Clint right away. Having been living with two spies for a while now, Pepper had gotten used to random things like this happening. She honestly shouldn't have been surprised that something as stupid as the shutter click on her phone would have woken him.

"Wha's goin' on?" Clint blearily called, looking around for some sort of attacker. Pepper would have laughed at the boy if she didn't feel so guilty for waking him up. Natasha had warned everyone before they moved in that Clint was actually a light sleeper and that he tended to be more dangerous when he just woke up. His body used muscle memory to attack whoever was nearby and his mind wouldn't catch up until too late. She even added that he had gotten worse since Loki. Clint's unfocused eyes settled on the CEO. He looked even more confused. Pepper tensed, ready to run if need be. Even as a six year old, Pepper wasn't sure how he'd react to someone waking him from a sleep like this. Who knows what could happen. So she trusted what she had been doing in the past, and waited until he focused on her. He blinked rapidly a few times, almost lost in thought and confusion before he finally spoke. "Pepper?"

"Yeah, you're on the common floor of the tower. You feel asleep on the couch," Pepper soothed, figuring a calm voice would be best for dealing with the tired boy. Clint nodded, relieved that Pepper didn't intentionally try to set off any of his triggers. Not that many muscle reactions really existed in this body, but his mind would still try and react to his old triggers. Slowly, he dropped back down onto the couch. Hearing the crunch of plastic, Clint groaned before sweeping his hand over the couch cushion and pushing everything to the floor. Pepper frowned at the mess but decided not to do anything about it right now. Clint glanced at the movie and smirked as another song began playing on the TV. Pepper watched as he slowly drifted off again. For a moment, she grew concerned. "JARVIS, how long has he been sleeping?"

"Almost onto eight hours. But from my memory, he hadn't slept well the past few weeks," JARVIS informed her. Pepper nodded. She had assumed as much as Clint had looked tired before. Of all of the Avengers, Pepper tended to worry about Clint the most (outside of Tony of course). She noticed when he wasn't at his best. Slowly, she got out of her chair and headed for one of many hallway closets. Opening the door, she quickly grabbed a blanket and returned to the couch. As gently as she could, Pepper draped it over Clint. He cracked open an eye at the feeling before smiling gently and pulling it over himself a bit more. Pepper smiled, pleased that he was safe and resting. Not wanting to disturb him anymore, she headed for the elevator. "Where do you wish to go?"

"Tony's lab," she told the AI. No response came back except the elevator moving down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or well, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it.
> 
> Darius has been good. A bit annoying about me trying to write which stinks because I've also mentally been having issues with writing and ideas and such. Hasn't helped that this week I spent most of my time doing the Christmas one-shot for everyone. But, this is something I'm seriously going to have to get used to. Likely I'll only be able to write like first thing in the morning and the two hours or so that he is at school four days a week. And maybe the weekends if the grandparents get Darius and hubby is working. TV has become the bane of my existence when hubby is home. It distracts me too much. Which is funny cause it used to not to.


	10. Everything Moves On

"Steve, I'm doing all I can!" Tony cried into his cell phone. Pepper froze in the doorway. She hadn't asked what the genius was doing. In fact, she wasn't even sure she cared how busy he was, all she wanted was an update. But Tony sounded hassled and worried. "JARVIS is tracking everything. This could take days, weeks! I don't know!" There was a pause, one were Pepper knew that Steve was berating Tony. She debated going over to his side but suddenly his face looked pained. Something that was never good when it came to him. "No! Don't come here!" Another pause. Pepper frowned. Why couldn't Steve come back to the tower? "What if Bruce is there? You could be there in minutes! Or, what if Hulk gets loose?" Again, a pause. Pepper realized they were valid points. It was best to have them all separated even if it didn’t seem like it. There was a better chance that someone was near where Bruce was. "We're fine here! Clint is checking on things and as am I. We're doing all we can!" Pepper moved forward again as Tony paused to listen. He sounded desperate and panicky. But before she got too close, Tony relaxed into a relieved posture and sighed. "I know. I'll call with news."

With that, the genius hung up. Sighing deeply, he placed the cell phone on the desk before him. Pepper waited just out of reach behind him and watched. He looked more run down than usual. Almost like he was blaming himself for this whole mess. While Clint's issue may actually be his fault, Bruce getting kidnapped was not. Pepper felt bad. She wished there was more that she could do to help. In fact, when she was at the SI meeting, she mentioned that the Avengers were dealing with an issue and had asked for their help keeping their eyes and ears open for news on Bruce. But everyone knew that the Avengers would find Bruce before they would hear anything.

"Tony?" she called. Tony jumped in surprise and spun around. He hadn't expected anyone else to come visit him. In fact, he had expected to be alone for the rest of the night. He assumed that Pepper would have gone to sleep as soon as she left the meeting.

"Jesus! Don't do that! You freaked me out!" Tony cried at her. Pepper frowned and watched as the genius gripped his Arc Reactor in a daze. She knew he had no idea that she had entered but that was no reason for him to act so dramatic. Or, was he just that over stimulated? Pepper decided to go for over stimulated and just shook off his anger as stress.

"Sorry," Pepper replied even though she knew it wasn't her fault. Tony had so much on his mind that he hadn't been paying attention to if someone had come in the room. The billionaire nodded, not wanting to admit that he shouldn't have snapped at her. Instead, he looked up into her eyes almost expecting her to say something to get him moving. "Is Steve okay?"

"He's worried about Bruce," Tony admitted with another sigh as he turned back around. Pepper nodded and placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. Tony leaned into the touch. He needed comfort right now. So much just seemed to be going wrong right now. JARVIS was extremely busy looking through every bit of data possible and doing normal chores that the AI couldn't really do anything else without causing strain on his servers. Steve was stuck off at that stupid convention, looking for signs for Bruce. Clint was upstairs, stuck in the body of a six year old boy... And poor Bruce... Tony was basically stuck just waiting, hoping and praying for an answer.

"We all are," Pepper answered as if it made a difference. Tony nodded and looked up at her. It made a bit of a difference knowing that there were others feeling the same way but... No one really knew the full extent of why Tony was worried. Tony had so much on his mind. There was almost too much... Tony sighed deeply.

"He... He said that I... I should be doing more," Tony muttered. Pepper tensed. Oh how she wished she could slap Steve and actually have him feel it. But she knew from experience that the super soldier wouldn't and she may actually do more damage to herself instead. Damn that super soldier serum... Tony shook his head and looked down. "He wants to come back. Almost like he doesn't trust me."

"No, Tony!" Pepper called, wishing that Tony had more confidence in himself. "He knows you're working. Maybe he feels that the answers will come faster from here and he wants to be part of that?"

Tony frowned. He really hadn't thought of that. Not that he really liked how that made sense. It was like Clint wanting to go to Steve cause he'd be more use over there. Tony sighed and relaxed further into his chair as his mind wrapped around the different reactions from his friends. Could they all really be that different but also still be the same? So different in their reactions and approach but the same in their wanting to help? Pepper gave a soft smile, knowing that she was helping even if it didn’t seem like it. Shifting to stand behind the genius, she began rubbing his shoulders to help him relax even more. It didn't last long.

"This sucks ass," Tony complained as he shifted under Pepper's pressing fingers. He never could stand being relaxed for long. Pepper paused.

"I know. You want to do more. Waiting is always the hardest part," Pepper stated, her knowledge on the fact making it's point stick more. Tony grimaced realizing that this must be how the CEO always felt whenever the Avengers went off on a mission. "How about you work on a different problem?"

"JARVIS is busy. Bruce is missing and I can't help Clint without Bruce so... No projects," Tony moaned. Pepper smiled. Tony had gotten too used to using JARVIS on all of his projects that it was almost like he had forgotten how to do it himself. Heck, Pepper was almost positive that Tony wouldn't survive a day without either JARVIS or a living human by his side to tell him what to do.

"Why not work on some of those Stark Industries projects that I've been asking for? For months, I might add," Pepper asked. Tony shook his head. He had actually finished those projects within the first week she had asked for. Actually, he was a few projects ahead of Pepper. Leaning forward, he pulled one of the older files up on the computer. Pepper moved around him. "You did them already?"

"Yup," Tony stated, uncaring as he backed away so she could get a better look. Pepper glanced through the file before noting something rather important. Something that Tony normally tended to change before sending it onto Pepper. She spun around and ‘gently’ slapped the back of his head. Tony almost tipped his chair over in shock before grabbing his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"How long ago did you do these?" she accused, her tone lighter then she typically would have used as she knew he was still upset and likely not ready for her full reaction. Tony would have laughed at her if he was in a better mood but he just wasn't up for games. So, he simply shrugged and looked away from her again. She frowned before realizing something. Leaning forward, she smacked him again. This time he gave her a weak smile. But she didn't look as pleased as he was beginning to feel. "What else do you already have done?"

"Uh..." Tony stalled, beginning to feel more like himself. Pepper arched her arm back as if preparing for another smack. Tony winced before grabbing his head while chuckling. Pepper tried not to smile as she watched Tony begin to relax into the old self that she remembered and loved dearly. "Alright, alright! Nearly everything." Pepper saw something sparkle in his eyes and so she titled her head in accusation. "Okay! Everything!"

"Tony!" Pepper whined, sounding more like a CEO than Tony's girlfriend. Tony rolled his eyes and began printing out the files she needed. But there was more than just files, so Tony then stood and headed off to go find the psychical projects he had completed. Pepper shook her head. She almost couldn't believe how much was done. For a minute she was unsure if she should be happy or pissed about the whole thing. Finally, she looked to him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Peps, I need time for my projects," Tony whined. Pepper frowned. He had all the time in the world to do his things. Most of SI believed that Tony just spent all his time on himself and never really did anything for SI. Tony looked at her. "If Stark Industries thinks I can do more projects faster, they'll demand such. So, if I keep my work to a minimum they'll hand some of the easier projects off to other people. That gives me more time to work on harder projects or other things."

"But Tony," Pepper tried to beg. Tony shook his head. He had thought long and hard about this. After all of his history with his father, Tony swore, he'd never make the same mistakes.

"I know Stark Industries needs me. But... I kind-of wish that some else in the company could step up. You know I check everyone out before hiring them. There are a lot of really brilliant minds down there. If I keep getting all the projects, they can't blossom into the minds that I know they can be," Tony pointed out. Pepper sighed. Slowly she walked over to the billionaire. He tensed, watching her for any dangerous signs. But all she did was pull him into a hug and then kissed him. Tony smiled when she pulled away. She gave a smile back and shook her head.

"Just keep doing what you're doing, Tony Stark."

\----------

“You did what?” Clint asked, staring at the package being held out to him. Pepper’s face, if possible, went even redder.

“I was attempting to do your laundry,” she muttered. Clint arched an eyebrow. Didn’t they have ‘maids’ or something that did a lot of it for them? Or, at least that’s what he assumed considering he hadn’t done laundry in the entire time he had stayed here. And Natasha was the type to hide her clothes within his so she wouldn’t have to do it. Clint highly doubted that Steve or Bruce would be the type to do his laundry either.

“Okay...” Clint replied, confused. Pepper winced.

“Everything got ruined.” Clint blinked a few times at that. Pepper was a very well put together woman so there was no way she messed it up. So there had to be something else that happened. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine,” Clint said, waving a hand up to attempt to soothe her. “I don’t think any of my favorite clothes were in the pile.”

“Oh god. Please...” Pepper whimpered. Clint sighed before taking the package. If anything then he could make her feel better by opening the package and finding out what was inside. A moment later, he paused.

“Uh.”

“I know that it seems really-” Pepper started but Clint looked up at her and smiled.

“Thanks, Pepper. It’s great.”

\----------

"Okay, so who are we going to keep this from?" Clint asked, jumping onto the desk next to Tony. The genius didn't even flinch, having gotten used to the six year-old scampering around the past few days. It really helped that Tony knew that Clint still had his elder mindset even though he looked like a kid. But lately, Tony had been noticing that Clint was almost forgetting more things. Things around the tower that the archer had recently been getting used to. A good example of such was when Tony led the boy down to the 'theater' room and Clint basically freaked out in a very similar reaction to the first time he had seen it. But things that were repeated a lot, like Bruce missing and stuff seemed to stick well.

"S.H.I.E.L.D, Steve, Thor, Natasha, uh... Bruce... The world?" Tony suggested. Clint narrowed his eyes at the genius. That seemed like a lot of people and some of it had already been broken. Pepper had complained that the Press was going frantic trying to find out news about Tony's 'son.' Tony of course thought that was hilarious. Clint and him didn't look anything alike. Thankfully Fury apparently didn’t care about the news as no one from S.H.I.E.L.D had come over to see what was going on. Tony looked over at the boy. "Fine! I don't know! I'm just kind of avoiding mentioning it to everyone."

"So, it's not really secret?" Clint muttered. Tony shook his head before going back to looking over Bruce's notes on the serum that was accidentally used on Clint. He had to find something. Clint cleared his throat. "So... If I wanted to, I could sneak into HQ and scare the crap out of Fury?"

"If you want... Wait... Why?" Tony questioned, spinning to face the boy. Clint smirked and grabbed a backpack he had brought with him. From it, he pulled out a Nerf N-Strike Elite Mega Thunderbow Blaster. Tony stared at if for a minute before busting out laughing. He could almost picture what the boy wanted to do with the simple toy. "Where the hell did you find that?"

"Pepper got it for me. Said it was a preview release or something," Clint said with a huge grin. Tony made grabby fingers for it. Nodding, Clint handed it over. Beginning to smirk himself, Tony began checking the whole thing out.

"Why?" he distractedly called. Clint shrugged and hopped down to watch the genius fiddle with his new toy. The boy hadn't even asked for it. Pepper had come by earlier that morning and handed it to him. Clint just thanked her and came up with a plan on what he wanted to do with it but when Pepper told him why she was giving it to him; she also mentioned some things that he wanted clarifying.

"Apparently, Pepper thinks that cause you don't want our friends knowing about what happened to me, then the help shouldn't either. So, she went to wash some of my clothes and your machine ate them," Clint replied. Tony stopped messing with the bow.

"My washing machine ate your clothes?" Tony mimicked. Clint nodded. He suddenly looked really guilty. Clint raised an eyebrow. Honestly the boy should have known that Tony was behind what happened. The archer placed his hands on his hips and looked harshly down at Tony.

"What did you do?" Clint accused. Tony smirked as he lost himself in what seemed like a fond memory. This time he wasn’t even upset that he was yet again getting blamed for something.

"A couple of years ago, I tried to do an April Fools Prank. I made the washing machine so it could read finger prints the year before. So, I messed with the settings a little so that when Pepper went to do laundry, it would do the opposite of whatever she told it to do. Kind-of forgot about the employees that she hired to do everyday chores and then... Well, forgot to ever fix the settings," Tony explained. Clint snorted in humor and leaned on Tony's desk. It would have been a good idea for a joke. "Sorry."

"It's fine. We bought so many outfits that I could probably go an entire year without doing laundry," Clint joked figuring there was no point in mentioning most of the ruined clothes were the kids clothes that the archer had picked, leaving Clint with mostly clothes from Tony’s choice. Tony smirked. Oh, there was an opening that Tony was going to take. After going to Build-A-Bear and finding out about the Avenger's merchandise, Tony was actually looking forward to going out and finding more items. Hell, he was maybe even thinking of decking out the whole tower in Avenger's merch.

"Well, we could go get some more if you want," Tony suggested. Clint shook his head. The boy could already picture it now, the whole tower completely covered in Avenger toys, figures, posters, towels, throws and other such useless and pointless items that would embarrass everyone but Tony. Actually, most probably wouldn’t embarrass him either but still. After having been a spy/assassin for so many years, being in the public eye once again was odd.

"Nah. Got too much. Just yesterday I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out what I wanted to wear. I’ve never had that problem before," Clint admitted. Tony laughed before realizing and underlying meaning of what Clint meant. No one had cared about Clint enough to get him clothes. He never had the ability to and by the time he did, the archer was too used to living with a small amount of clothes. Clint watched Tony and noticed the man draw into himself. The boy could see where this was going. He had to stop it. "Hey, man. It's not a big deal. If you want, we can go out. I could always buy some more Nerf weapons."

"Yeah," Tony muttered, feeling a little distracted now. Slowly he looked back at the bow. He snorted at it. "I could make something better than this."

"I know. Pepper knows too. But, we didn't want to bother you," Clint mumbled. Tony waved his hand. He totally needed a distraction right now.

"JARVIS isn't as busy after going through many of the scenarios. By the end of the day, I'll have a bunch of weapons for you!" Tony declared. Clint shook his head and rolled his eyes while grabbing for the toy. Tony tugged it back. For a moment, Clint was terrified that he wasn't going to get the toy back. "I'm gonna need this for an extra minute."

"What? Why?" Clint called as Tony stood and headed over to a different table. The boy was panicking now. He wanted the toy still. It was a gift and important to him. But as they neared the table, Clint noticed something different about the table. This one was clear of anything, almost as if someone came by and swept everything off the minute before Clint arrived. A further glance of the table actually showed that this table was a scanner. Tony placed the toy onto it and right away, JARVIS activated it. It scanned the entire bow before Tony grabbed it and handed it back. Clint quickly snatched it away and nervously glanced it over while asking, "All done?"

"With that piece of crap. Come back at dinner, I'll have something better," Tony declared, fully setting himself up into work mode. Clint smiled wondering if he'd still be able to enjoy these toys when he is grown again. A glance at Tony, who was fully in work mode, made his smile widen. Yeah, he'd be able to. Off in the distance Dum-E stood there with Stevie balancing on his mechanical arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! Had thought of maybe doing a new years story but never got around to it. Sorry. I'll look into getting something ready for Valentines Day then. Maybe. Shout out an idea and I'll work on it. I keep getting hit with inspirations for other things that it's getting distracting, lol.
> 
> Darius is good. Had to go for a flu shot yesterday so he is a little upset with me. He's been pretty whinny and verbally aggressive with me, so I banned a few things for a bit. We'll see if that helps. Hopefully. Gonna be a bit to see if it actually works. Who knows. I can only pray. Hopefully the attitude can get fixed before we go to Disney at the end of the month.


	11. I Am Bored

Clint messed with a Nerf bow again, trying to fix the trajectory of the toy gun. So far, his normally excellent aim was worse than when he was first training as a boy. The Nerf toy wasn't as good as he expected. Then again, this was his first attempt at ever shooting with a toy. He was actually used to shooting with objects professionally made that were meant for killing purposes or sport purposes, not just for fun like this. And the few he had done for fun... Well, he made those himself. Checking himself again, Clint tried again. This time his aim was better. Shooting again, it missed the target. The archer cursed. Moving to the target, he collected the little Nerf arrows and glanced them over. There were slight differences in the two that he was holding. So not only was the bow made weird, but the 'arrows' were cheap. Sighing, he turned back to the main shooting area. Tony was standing there with his hands behind his back.

"JARVIS mentioned that your toy sucks worse then I thought it would," Tony declared, almost happy that Clint was failing. Clint glared at him. Rolling his eyes, Tony moved his hands in front of him; they held a bow and arrow set that looked similar to the Nerf bow. Clint raised an eyebrow at the items before looking to the genius. Tony shrugged. "I based it on the design of the toy but made it to the actual specs that you gave me before. Didn't really want Pep to know that I fixed them for you."

Without a word, Clint grabbed for the bow, spun and shot one of the arrows. Dead center. Clint smiled. Looking down at it, Clint spun it around to stare at every angle. Tony just smiled, not saying a word. After a minute, Clint grabbed another arrow and shot without even looking. Again, dead center.

"This will do," Clint said, sounding more pleased than Tony could ever remember. Tony smirked. Hell, the genius couldn't remember adult Clint sounding that thankful with him. But then again, at six years old, this Clint didn't have as many years disappointment as adult Clint.

"Make sure JARVIS records whatever havoc you create with that," Tony told him. Clint nodded. "I'm still working on some more weapons. Actually, I think I might make a toy line for kids."

"With weapons?" Clint asked, giving the billionaire a skeptical look. Tony frowned before shrugging. While he didn’t like the idea of it being weapons, he could make ‘safe weapons?’

"They can't kill anyone. And I won't just make weapons. I'll do other things. I have plans. Big plans," Tony said before spinning around. As he walked off, Clint heard the genius mentioning something about games to test a kid's knowledge. Shaking his head, Clint went back to shooting and testing his new bow. Plans started forming in his head of different things he could do with this toy. Especially seeing as Clint could already tell that Tony was smart enough to make different arrowhead types like suction cups, glue heads, and nets... Oh, the fun he could have.

\----------

Pepper was busy filling out the rest of the paperwork she had collected from Tony the week before. It was still somewhat of a shock that he had done all of it, never mind keep it a secret from her. She almost wondered if she should keep a closer eye on him. Who knows what that man was up to in his lab? Hours on end, by himself doing lord knows what. For all Pepper knows half the time, Tony could be dead in there. She had walked in on him once with the Arc Reactor half hanging out his chest.

JARVIS had mentioned that he could record Tony's happenings in the lab even if Tony asked for it to be kept secret. Course, the AI was also smart enough to know if it was some sort of gift for the CEO, then he best keep silent. But Pepper felt she needed to trust Tony. He was a genius and if he claimed that this was how he needed to run SI, then that was that. Besides, he made a good point. If Tony was handed everything to do and did it all himself, then no one would be given the opportunity to shine. By limiting the amount of work that he does, that meant that SI must pass some of the work to other employees and give them the chance to show that they know just as much or maybe even more (in that field) than Tony.

Thankfully, even with all this paperwork from Tony, Pepper's office was silent right now. A rarity since the Avengers moved into the top of the tower. Normally, there was something going on like; security complaining about the reporters, new hires or temps asking permissions for autographs and such. But right now, it was rather relaxing and soothing. She could almost get used to this. So she took this moment to lay down her pen and sit back and just let out a deep sigh. Yes, this was nice. She wasn't going to worry about Bruce, or Clint, or Natasha on her mission, or Thor away on his vacation... Or anything.

Suddenly, from outside her office, Pepper heard a sudden high pitched squeal of faux horror. Standing, mostly out of surprise, she went to round her desk but could barely take a step before the door was flung open. Making a huge dramatic entrance, Pepper's secretary, Ella, stumbled through the doorway with a toy arrow suction cupped to her head. Pepper almost snorted in laughter at the sight but instead was too stunned and just watched. Ella reached out for Pepper with fake dying gasps as the woman stumbled into the room.

"I've been shot! I'm dead! No! Worse, I'm dying! Run before they get you too!" Ella cried at Pepper as she stumbled a few more steps forward and then dropped to the ground. Pepper almost laughed then but held it back. She could barely hold back a large smile that came across her face as Ella let out a loud dying gasp. Ella had been hired only four months after Tony had made her CEO and Natasha had to leave because her mission was over. Pepper had gone through at least two people a week during that time. Ella only stayed because she had a really good sense of humor and enjoyed spending time with Tony even on his bad days. Pepper shook her head at Ella as the woman peeked open her eyes to see Pepper still standing there. Muttering through the carpet, Ella made one last plea. "Run!"

"Oh no! Whatever shall I do! There has been a murder!" Pepper dramatically called as a figure dropped out of the ceiling from the hallway. The figure crouched low for a bit before standing and walking toward the two women. Pepper gave the boy a smile as he entered to room. She could only imagine how bored Clint must be to come down to the Stark Industries floors. He had been spending most of the time up on the Avengers floors. Ella glanced down at the boy with a pleased looking scowl through silted eyes.

"By now, a dead person's muscles would have relaxed so your eyes would be open," Clint told the woman as he kneeled down by her body. Pepper snorted as Ella opened her eyes to stare at Clint. In another dramatic show of death, she gasped again and lolled her tongue out of her mouth. Clint smirked and shook his head; a sign that that normally didn't happen in actual deaths like this. Ella didn't seem to care. "Then again, you wouldn't have been able to call out to Pepper, never mind get out of your seat and come in here. But, thanks for the show."

"Clint," Pepper warned as Ella rolled her eyes and began working on getting up. Clint glanced over at the CEO and shrugged his shoulders at her. Ella, who had most interactions with Tony, had been told about the Avengers by Pepper before. She had been forced to sign multiple Non-Disclosure agreements before finding out about any of the Avengers. S.H.I.E.L.D had surprisingly been fine with letting most of SI know who the Avengers actually were. Especially seeing as the Avengers newest HQ was going to be Stark Tower and SI's main HQ was still going to be inside Stark Tower as well.

"I was expecting someone older," Ella stated to Clint as she began brushing off imaginary dirt from her outfit having thought that maybe it was Tony that had done this. Clint snorted, not surprised that Ella knew who he was. Pepper almost gasped in shock. She hadn't mentioned to key personal about what had happened to Clint. It was one of the main things she had promised to do when the Avengers where first moved in. But then again, Clint and Tony seemed fine on keeping the whole thing a secret from Steve and even S.H.I.E.L.D so she couldn't be entirely blamed. Heck, her statements to the press were that the boy seen with Tony in public was a charity thing. The first day with the boy didn't go well as the boy had come down with a small cold and the next day they went out shopping for clothing and toys for their orphanage.

"And I expected a more mature reaction," he countered. He was too used to the reactions he got at S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson and Fury usually only let him get away with harmless pranks like this if one; they were harmless, two; they taught the person a lesson, and three; he didn't get caught. He didn't ever get caught but it was now well known around S.H.I.E.L.D that if something stupid happened to you, Agent Barton was the one to blame. Ella snorted at the boy and looked down at him with a look that basically told him to think about what he just said. Clint smirked. Yeah, he should have thought of that.

"I work for Tony Stark's girlfriend. Never mind in a building with the Avengers. You really think that I didn't get a full warning on what could happen. Hell, I had to sign a NDA before even knowing that I was going to interview for a job at SI," Ella answered. Clint snorted having read the NDA that Pepper had made everyone in the building sign. If they didn't sign it, they wouldn't work in the tower. Amazingly enough, most people who made it past the interview stage ended up staying for the job. Unless, they had nearly every day interactions with Tony... Most of those people lasted weeks. Sometimes, if they were lucky, only a few months. "Besides, what else would someone do after being shot by a toy arrow when they know Hawkeye is upstairs and bored?"

"Most people report me to higher management in an effort to get me in trouble," Clint mentioned, his experience with the Helicarrier being so much more different that his experiences with SI staff. Ella shrugged and looked over at Pepper. The CEO had a small smile in place showing that she though this whole thing was rather funny as well. Clint smirked as he looked at Pepper as well. Yeah, he doubted he'd get in trouble here either.

"I bet Mr. Stark told you to have JARVIS record this. Or he'll complain about not being involved," Ella replied. Clint laughed remembering his discussion with the genius earlier that day. He looked to Pepper before pointing to Ella.

"I like her." Pepper snorted as her mind flashed back to the first day that Tony met Ella. Ella laughed.

"Tony said the same thing," Pepper told him. Clint nodded as Ella seemed to puff herself up in pride. Ella moved over to Pepper's desk to take away all the papers the CEO had finished. When she turned back to Clint, she frowned and suddenly realized what she was looking at. The Avengers were all adults, yet here he was, a simple child and she was pretty sure she heard the name of Clint being involved with the Avengers. Knowing Tony, Ella wondered if maybe the genius was testing something on the archer. Heck, Tony worked alongside Bruce Banner; a man who changed his own genetic code with gamma radiation. Never mind Captain America – a man who was given a random serum that turned him from a sickly young man to the man he is now. Looking back to Pepper, she spoke with concern.

"Can I ask what happened and if I should be concerned?"

"We don't really know," Clint answered. Ella looked back at him in surprise. Now she was really concerned. For all they knew this was some airborne virus that means she could wake up tomorrow as a two year old. "Just woke up as six years old again. No one else had been affected and Tony seems to have an idea of what happened but he ain't sharin."

"Six?" Ella countered, sounding unsure of this. Clint smirked. He always had people questioning his age. Without a word, he nodded. She raised an eyebrow at him. And he gave her a look that dared her to question him again.

"Okay, Ella, that's enough. Back to work," Pepper finally declared, not wanting them to get into a fight. Ella nodded to the CEO before handing the toy arrow to Clint with a smile and leaving. Clint smiled at her and watched her leave. The second the door was closed, Clint looked at Pepper and was stunned to see a disapproving face staring back at him. While Pepper knew that Clint would prank people and had in the past, he never did anyone outside of who he worked with so Pepper had never feared for the employees of SI. "I can understand Tony doing something like this, but you?"

"What can I say? I'm a punk," Clint said with a smile. Pepper shook her head and sat back down, feeling as if her conversation with Clint was over. Clint moved deeper into the room. He had more questions for her though. "Does everyone here know who we are?"

"We sent out pictures with your code names. JARVIS, assuming Tony and I might mess up and call you by your real names, also claimed that your real names were fake. The NDA that everyone signs makes it that if they slip up even once, we have every right to fire them and depending on what they say, throw them in jail. We did explain that the NDA was not only for Avengers safety but also for their own," Pepper explained. Clint nodded, not confused by what she said and pleased to know how tightly Pepper and Tony were watching over their employees. He had been concerned about the employees knowing who he was. It was a bit distressing finding out from Tony that mostly all the employees knew of the Avengers. Then again, it's kind of hard keeping it a secret that Stark Tower is now Avengers HQ. "Do you mind if SI knows about your age?"

"Nah. I could care less. Honestly, I was just bored. JARVIS said I caught up on the movies I missed... TV was full of boring soaps. Tony kicked me out of his lab and it's pointless to train while six years old," Clint pointed out. Pepper looked to the toy bow in Clint's hand. She could tell it wasn't the one she had bought him which meant that Tony had made him a new one. That caused her to smile, thinking about how good the genius would be as a father.

"So you decided to attack SI employees with suction cup arrows?"

"I planned on only you and certain people who visited your office, but you've been alone for a while, so I attacked Ella," Clint said as he plopped down into one of the free seats in front of her desk. Pepper frowned. It was true that she had been alone most of the morning. Not something that she was used to. But Clint had to have something better to do.

"Why not read a book? Play a video game?"

"No good books and games are too easy. Sides, I would be doing the same thing on the Helicarrier. I don't do bored well," Clint admitted. Pepper sighed. She was used to Tony always having something to do. And if he didn't, it was easy to suggest something. Natasha had given Pepper a list of stuff for Clint to do but most of it involved his adult body. "Coulson normally has some good ideas. I could go see him, but I need a ride to HQ."

Pepper stopped what she was doing and looked at Clint. For a moment she wasn't sure what to say. While it was true that all the Avengers knew that Coulson was alive, they were forced to act as if he wasn’t due to much of S.H.I.E.L.D not knowing of the man’s resurrection. Besides, Coulson was busy with his new team, off doing whatever and so he wasn’t at S.H.I.E.L.D HQ. But Clint didn't even seem to notice his mistake. Instead, he was looking at her like he was praying she'd give him a ride. Swallowing some built up saliva, Pepper nervously opened her mouth.

"Clint, don't you remember what happened to Coulson?" Clint's eyes darkened. All he could think was that this woman was about to play some cruel prank on him. And if it was Tony's idea then the genius was going to learn that it was best not to mess with this little archer.

"What do you mean? Is he okay?" Pepper sharply inhaled. Something was wrong.

"Clint, Coulson’s gone," Pepper informed him, messing up her meaning just slightly as to test the archer and potentially make Clint believe the agent had died. It wasn’t nice but god forbid Clint slipped up again for whatever reason. Clint stared at her for a moment. His mind clearly had fixed himself into remembering his handler as still being around.

“But... I... Just saw him...” Clint argued, furrowing his brow as he tried to place what was going on in his memory. He swore he had just seen Coulson recently, but he had been an adult. But he also knew he had been here at the tower with Tony and Pepper as six years old for a while now. Which part of his memory was right? Pepper seemed to notice the change and got to her feet.

"We need to go talk to Tony."

\----------

Clint's memory loss was worse than Pepper and even Clint had originally feared. He had memories of every Avenger as individuals and of the initiative itself to a degree. It wasn’t complete and clearly didn’t make sense to Clint at all. Mainly, to him, Manhattan hadn't even been attacked. The S.H.I.E.L.D bunker that had been destroyed was still active.

Last thing the archer could remember that seemed to make sense with the rest of his memories was Coulson getting a call saying that Captain America was found, alive. Which made no sense as he had memories of living with Steve in the tower but they were faded and he couldn’t honestly say what they did. It was more of a feeling. While both Pepper and Tony were thankful that Clint couldn't remember Loki's control over him, they were both rather terrified of what was going on and what could happen to the boy next.

"So... Captain America leads the... Team?" Clint asked, beginning to understand that Tony was not pulling a prank and this wasn't a mission gone wrong. Now, he was re-asking questions in an effort to wrap his mind around the idea that this was actually happening. That he, in fact may actually be in danger. Tony nodded. He had been going through as much as he could to try and recall Clint's memory but nothing seemed to be helping. Once he lost the memory, it was like it never happened to him. Pepper stood off to the side, just watching and putting her two cents in when she thought it was needed. But mostly, she wondering what would happen. What would Clint do when he forgets her and Tony? Or S.H.I.E.L.D? How much worse could this get? "And Dr. Banner was approved for the team?"

"Yup," Tony replied, unsure what else to say. Clint frowned. Fury had told him once that Banner had been considered but was too volatile for team missions. The scary thing was Tony had had some video files that showed the Avengers fighting together. Clint briefly figured that most of it could be faked. But then Tony began showing the team working together. Images like Hulk tossing Black Widow into an attacker, Clint (a much older Clint) and Captain America fighting back to back and Mjolnir flying by Clint's perch and the Iron Man catching the archer when he fell from a building. Things that Clint knew never happened. Never would have happened unless Tony was telling the truth. Tony jerked forward when Clint shook his head. "You okay?"

"Can I say no?" Clint muttered. He was surprised when Tony nodded his consent. For some reason the boy figured that Tony would have said no. Clint sighed and looked to the floor. There was no way that he wanted to see the genius's reaction to this. "Then no."

"What's bothering you the most?" Pepper gently inquired after a minute of silence. Clint glanced at her quickly before focusing on the floor. He could tell that they were worried about him. Were worried about what was happening. If what they said was indeed true, and Clint was beginning to believe it, then they were worried about losing their friend. Slowly, he shrugged. He almost wished he had a better answer for them. For his friends, but he didn't. This was a lot to take in and especially believe in.

"Take your pick," Clint suggested. Pepper nodded, having assumed as much. It was a lot to take on. Clint shook his head again, beginning to go a little pale. "This is... It's too much."

"I'm sorry," Tony mumbled. He leaned forward in his chair to place a hand on Clint's small knee. "I'm still working on trying to fix this. But I need Bruce. It was his serum."

Clint nodded, taking the admittance of Tony's mess up with ease. It had already been determined that Clint had no memory of how he had been turned into a kid and not an exact amount of how long it had been like that. Clint remembered Bruce as having been kidnapped, Steve having called but he couldn’t remember why that mattered to him nor could he really connect Bruce and Steve as friends in his life. Pepper had already known the truth and just watched the boy, wondering what he was going to do. Tony sighed deeply. He needed to fix this.

"And Bruce is... Missing?" Clint attempted to confirm aloud as he yet again shook his head. Tony frowned before glancing at Pepper. She looked just as worried. Slowly, she moved to stand next to Clint.

"Clint?" Pepper pressed, ignoring his own questioned. The ex-archer shook his head again. Pepper placed a hand on Clint's shoulder. He jerked at the touch which made the CEO glance down at Tony's hand. There had been no reaction then. "Are you okay?"

Clint gently shook his head but this time began to regret it. Right away he began to feel dizzy and nauseous. Something was strange. Not wrong, just weird. Unbeknownst to him, Clint began swaying. Pepper called out to him again. This time there was no reply at all. Worried, she traded a look with the genius before calling out louder and gently shaking Clint's shoulder. Clint turned his head to face her but before his eyes could focus on her, they rolled and he dropped to the ground.

"Oh my god!" Pepper screamed. Tony jumped to his feet as Clint began kicking out and pushing things away with flailing limbs.

"JARVIS!" Tony shouted as Pepper and him backed away from Clint's rapidly moving form.

"They are coming, sir!" JARVIS quickly intoned. Pepper jerked to look at Clint in shock.

"Who's they?"

"The doctors I began staffing after that hospital trip!" Tony answered. Thankfully, Bruce had long ago requested a 'Medical' floor for whenever the Avengers get injured. It would have been great to have them brought back to the Tower rather than waiting wherever they needed to be. With Bruce being able to watch over the others while they recover, it was nice for the S.H.I.E.L.D doctors to agree to let the Avengers rest at the Tower. Especially Barton. The area had been mostly set up but once Tony staffed it full of highly capable employees. They had been spending the past week or so getting the whole place fully set up and thankfully, they were ready for this.

It didn't take long for the doctors to show up and push Pepper and Tony even further away. Tony didn't even argue as the doctors began kicking away tables and chairs and other work related objects that had surrounded the boy in their effort to reach him. All he did was watch. Knowing that Clint was in their capable hands, they easily backed off. Then Pepper looked at Tony. Her gaze was worried and terrified as she spoke to the genius.

"What are we going to do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness. Things are getting hectic... Been busy writing... Actually, attempting to write every day but my mind just hasn't been working well for me. I keep knowing where I want to go with a story but attempting to get there is eluding me. It is so aggravating. But, today seems to be going slightly better. We'll see how long that lasts.
> 
> Darius is good. No big issues with him or anything. He's been going to school and having fun. Went through a fire drill yesterday where apparently his room had been attempting a bathroom trip and had to leave beforehand. Never found out if there had been an issue with a child after that as Darius was too focused on other things. Like apparently the janitor didn't actually leave with everyone. I had to try and say that maybe he went out a different door after checking to make sure everyone was outside. Other then all that, been busy preparing for a trip which is a pain due to having to look up travel restrictions and such. Especially since we are driving. But, we seem to be lucky in the fact that the only state that would care is our own and we already planned on quarantining ourselves so it was no big deal.


	12. Memories

Clint ended up having a grand mal seizure. He spent the rest of the day, and into the night, unconscious. The doctors, that Tony had hired, believed that the archer's attack was more than likely stress induced and feared for the archer’s mental state when he woke. Tony and JARVIS had willingly given them all their knowledge on Clint's condition (after they signed a very hefty NDA) and they used that to come up with this answer. They believed that what had happened to cause his rapid de-aging may have weakened his system enough that when they mentioned his failing memory, Clint basically stressed his body to a breaking point. It was also agreed that this likely would have happened at some point even if the sudden stress of memory loss hadn’t happened. Clint had basically been a ticking-time bomb.

"I would suggest not talking about his memory loss," one of the various doctors suggested when going over Clint’s potential treatment. Tony frowned, his hands clenching and unclenching as he attempted to soothe his feelings. He had planned on checking Clint's memory almost every hour just so he could track the rate of deterioration. Maybe the memory loss would help the genius fix the archer if he knew how it was going. But if the seizures happened every time he tried, it might not be for the best for Clint. And that was what mattered most. Though, memory loss was a very particular thing. What if Tony ended up saying something that Clint had forgotten? "I understand you desire to keep track of the rate of deterioration, but we don't know what else could happen to him. You wouldn't want him to have a stress induced heart attack."

"So, I have to skip around his memory loss without knowing what he may have forgotten? That's ridiculous!" Tony shouted at the doctor in a state of stress. The others moved away from the one who had spoken. They knew better than to question Tony Stark even if Tony would rather they point out when he was being an ass. Like now. The first doctor shrugged, not really caring that he was speaking to Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. He was doing what was best for his patient. His patient was Clint Barton, not Tony Stark.

"I'm sorry, but like you, we don't know what this did to him. For all we know, that serum could kill him in the next few minutes," the doctor explained. Tony almost snapped but stopped when the doctor raised his hands in defense. Hearing the fact that Clint might die had nearly pushed _him_ over the edge. "I'm not trying to be the bad guy here. We are all in uncharted territory. The less we put on his system, the better. His mind will cover what he's missing as a protective measure. And when it doesn't, he'll ask."

"But what if he doesn't ask?"

\----------

Clint woke an hour later with no full memory of exactly what had happened to him. The doctors allowed Tony to briefly explain about Loki and Manhattan and the Avengers but no one freely mentioned the archer's involvement in the first part. It was during this explanation that Tony realized that Clint had seriously forgotten about the Avengers entirely. Oh, he knew about the initiative. Knew about Iron Man and Hulk but he hardly remembered Thor’s appearance and had been shocked that Captain America had been found. One of the few good things going at the moment was the fact that Clint had a better recollection of living in the tower for the past two weeks and so he wasn’t too disturbed about waking here rather then at S.H.I.E.L.D.

The docs then also explained about his seizure and how they wanted to watch him overnight. When Tony heard that part he couldn’t hold back his laugh. These doctors were too new to understand anything about Clint but it wasn’t their fault. As said, they were too new. In the end, they got four more hours before Clint escaped their care. At first, the docs worried, but after JARVIS said the archer was in the living room and that he was monitoring the boy, they relented. Never mind the fact that Tony mentioned, Clint had a penchant for avoiding doctors.

“Hey, JARVIS?” Clint asked the day after he escaped from the hospital. He had just had a nightmare of his childhood that he had gotten a bit too stuck in and when he woke he had panicked at the strange environment until he remembered ‘everything.’ While he distantly remembered that he had been staying in the tower with Tony, Pepper and the AI JARVIS, he didn’t know for how long or even why he had been. It obviously had to do with the fact that he was younger but last Clint knew, S.H.I.E.L.D was not ‘buddy-buddy’ with Tony. Unconsciously, Clint knew he needed to stay with Tony and Pepper. That Tony had some idea of what happened to him.

At the moment though, those few minutes of panic were seared in Clint’s mind as he wondered what would happen if he lost too many memories. What if he lost the realization that he should be here because he was ‘wrong’ in some way? What if he felt trapped due to his childhood trauma? Clint needed a back up.

“Yes, Agent Barton?” JARVIS intoned. Clint pursed his lips. That would have to be something that the AI stopped doing. Sooner or later, Clint would likely forget he was an agent of anything. And hearing ‘agent’ would likely make his old mercenary self and certainly circus-life self very wary.

“I... I was wondering if you could do something for me,” Clint sighed. There was a pause as JARVIS waited for Clint’s instructions. “We know how I’m loosing memories,” the archer started, wincing a bit. While he didn’t understand how much he lost, Clint knew that he was loosing more and more. Evidence around the tower showed that he had been here for a long while, like years, but his mind told him that he’d never been to the tower before. “We’ll be hitting a point sooner or later when I won’t remember everything that had been happening. I’ll literally be a six year old me.”

“Things appear to be progressing that way,” JARVIS sadly agreed. He didn’t like the idea that Clint was reverting to his aged body’s self. Then again, none of them did and there was little they could do about it.

“Well... I’m gonna start freaking out more about where I am. There are times that... Well, being here would make me want to run,” Clint explained. JARVIS processed that before making adjustments to his code to better keep track of exits and the vents. “I was hoping... Has Tony or Pepper ever watched the movie _Fifty First Dates_?”

“I have no information on that but I can easily get it,” JARVIS intoned. Clint nodded, knowing the AI likely could do that.

“Okay, well. There’s a bit where a video plays that explains things a person had forgotten. Maybe... Maybe could we do that here? I mean, nothing big. Just, a reason for me to stay and trust Tony and Pepper and you?” JARVIS went silent for a minute as he looked up the movie. He scanned it through, seeing what Clint was talking about and liking the idea.

“I can come up with things to say that should soothe your mind. You may adjust as we go if you wish,” JARVIS informed. Clint sighed, sagging a bit in relief. After everything that has happened recently with the team, Clint really didn’t want to know how Tony and Pepper would feel if he just randomly took off on them. Especially with them knowing that he likely didn’t have any memory of his training.

“Thanks,” Clint told him.

“Would you like to see what I have compiled?” JARVIS wondered. Clint arched an eyebrow, surprised that the AI already had created a video. Slowly, he nodded. A moment later, the TV in Clint’s bedroom turned on. He looked up to see video footage of him, at age six, hanging around with Tony and with Pepper. Some of the footage was things he remembered doing but hadn’t made sense in any sort of way. Before he could focus too long on it, the footage changed to show the day before he had de-aged, when he went ‘training’ with Tony. Then it flashed through the Avengers and to mission reports and to the Battle of New York. Once again, it was smartly avoided to show how much Clint had been involved in that. The video then changed to mission reports that he clearly wrote of things he had done for S.H.I.E.L.D.

JARVIS went three years prior to the Battle of New York before Clint’s mind started to actually remember the missions that JARVIS was showing. Back tracking it, Clint realized he was missing memories or had very unclear memories from nearly the past five years. His head started to ache at the thought of what happened during those missing years. The video cut out before it got much further then seven years prior. “JARVIS, keep playing.”

“I am afraid it is unwise in your current condition. I believe I may need to lessen the amount of which I inform you of. Are there any particular edits you believe should be made?” the AI asked. Clint winced. He didn’t want to lessen the amount of information given. If anything, he wanted to increase it but he also understood that he’d be loosing more time as days passed. So, the main focus should be his relationship with Tony and Pepper, the Avengers as a whole, his life as a S.H.I.E.L.D agents, maybe his time in the circus and possibly what happened to Barney.

“Focus a bit more on my relationship with Tony and Pepper and information on yourself. That should keep me feeling safer here. Just a quick mention of the Avengers forming and living here in the tower. S.H.I.E.L.D should likely be only a few missions to show my closeness with Natasha, in case she returns soon. Also, show the information of my recruitment, including the interview I did with Coulson and Fury. I believe there are some videos of my time at Carson’s or Tibolt’s, so you can show me that and maybe... Make mention that Barney is safe somewhere. You don’t need to say where or our relationship but make me know he is okay. I’m gonna be highly worried about him by the time I get back to my circus days.”

JARVIS paused, searching the internet for videos of Hawkeye in any circus. It took a bit longer then he would have liked as much of it had been buried pretty deep, but JARVIS did find them. He edited the video and showed it again for the archer. Clint watched, his mind focusing hard on trying to correctly place events. While this video showed more years then the last video, it was much shorter and so Clint didn’t have to suffer too much of a head ache from it. He sighed in relief. “Is that better, Agent Barton?”

“Call me Clint from now on. No Agent Barton or Mr. Barton or anything like that. Clint. Otherwise, I won’t trust you but yeah. That video was good,” Clint agreed. JARVIS made note of Clint’s request to call him just by his first name. While his programming disliked the idea, JARVIS understood that the archer’s need was more important then ‘being polite.’ “Thanks.”

“It was no problem... Clint,” JARVIS replied. Clint snorted at the pause in which the archer knew the AI was fighting the idea of saying his last name over his first. He nodded and finally got up out of bed and headed for the closet. Like most mornings since having gone shopping with Tony, Clint paused as he took in the amount of clothes inside.

“Holy crap.”

“Sir and Miss Potts did not wish for you to be without,” JARVIS explained. Clint laughed.

“I would have been fine with only a few things. This... This is excessive,” the archer admitted before heading inside to examine the clothes and find out exactly what he wanted.

\----------

“This place is nuts,” Clint commented, spinning in a circle as he looked over the main common floor for the Avengers. Distantly, a few things twinged some sort of quick moment of Clint having spent time with another Avenger there but none of it made any sense to him. Especially any time he had a memory involving anyone but Tony, Pepper and Natasha. “What do you people not have?”

“A bowling alley,” JARVIS deadpanned and Clint snorted. There was likely more that the tower didn’t have but there was no reason to get into everything. Stunned, Clint headed toward the ceiling to floor windows that overlooked the open balcony outside.

“Wow,” he sighed out in wonder as he looked over the city of New York. JARVIS said nothing, just watched as Clint looked outside before glancing toward the door to the balcony. After what seemed to be three minutes of debating, Clint slowly headed toward it. JARVIS didn’t stop him and so it wasn’t long before Clint was outside, looking over the railing at the city. Unbeknownst to him, the building across the way and a few people down believe noticed the young boy and with the impressiveness of Stark Tech, they were able to zoom their cameras in well enough to snap photos of him. “This is amazing.”

Clint spent nearly four hours outside on the balcony, watching people from down below and just at the edge of his eyesight. The only reason he went back inside was due to his stomach protesting the lack of food he had gotten. While Clint had honestly been used to little amounts of food at this age, his time spent here (while he may not remember all of it) had gotten him a bit spoiled. Which meant he grew hungry faster then he used to. He headed inside and went to the kitchen only to freeze at the amount of food he had found.

“Uh... What... What should I avoid in here?” Clint asked, his voice going a bit quieter as he realized what he had just asked. He shook his head with a grimace. For a moment he had regressed all the way back to when he had first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. He had done the same thing back then as he had just done now when he walked into the buffet style cafe. But now his mind was back and he remembered that he lived here now. All the food should be safe for him to eat. “Sorry, forget that.”

JARVIS said nothing but did take note of Clint’s actions. The AI also noted that while it seemed Clint had returned back to the state he had been in the morning, the archer only grabbed a small selection of food to eat. Not enough to fill a person up and hardly enough to cover a healthy lunch. Concerned, JARVIS sent a quick report to Tony though he wasn’t fully sure the genius would pay attention to it. Fearing the idea of triggering a memory and another seizure, Tony had locked himself into his lab while using the excuse to try and find Bruce as a good reason for not coming out. The AI debated sending the report to Pepper but he knew that she was busy being neck deep in a potential merger or partnership with an upcoming business that was working on affordable security systems which happened to use a lot of Stark Tech.

With food in hand, Clint headed off toward the living room and sat down on the couch. “JARVIS? Can you pull up movies on this screen or do I need to be in the theater you mentioned?”

“I can display whatever you wish on any device within the areas I have access too.” Clint smirked and nodded.

“Kay. Uh... I’m interested in watching a newer movie... _The Hurt Locker._ It had looked really interesting,” Clint commented, not realizing his little slip once again. JARVIS looked up the movie and debated explaining that the movie was five years old. In the end, he said nothing and put it on the screen.

\----------

For the rest of the day and into the entirety of the next day, JARVIS kept seeing more and more slips of Clint’s memory vanishing. Some times it was to the extreme of the boy having been in the circus while other times seemed only years ago. The years slowly were extending as well. By the end of the second day, Clint seemed to only remember as early as the 2000s.

“I don’t get why this is increasing,” Tony bemoaned, looking over the data that JARVIS had been sending him on Clint’s memory. The boy had lasted nearly two weeks with his memory in tact and now within three days or something, Clint had lost the last thirteen years.

“Sir, I believe it may be prudent to be ready for Agent Barton to run. He had made numerous statements of the possibility of it happening and there are reports from Agent Barton’s early career of him running from them as well,” JARVIS intoned. Tony winced. While he had tracers, he had never really been able to tag Natasha or Clint. They’d always find them. But, Tony wasn’t sure the archer was as well trained in looking for these things thirteen years ago, so he might have a chance.

“All right... Tell me when he isn’t in his room and I’ll go tag his clothes. Make sure that if he runs we’ll know.”

“Understood and Sir. He is currently in the theater room.” Tony jumped to his feet, grabbing the needed items as quickly as possible before rushing off to Clint’s room. If he was going to do this, he needed to do it fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late. I know. Started editing yesterday before having to give my cat some liquid pain medication. I'm unsure how exactly we did this but when I went to inject it down his throat, it splashed backwards and struck my left eye. Quick visit to the eye doctor where I was told that I should let my eye rest, meaning no contacts. My eyesight is horribly bad so I couldn't even see to write anything new (which ironically most of this chapter is compared to the version of this story on FF.net). Heck, I was hardly able to see the first two episodes of WandaVision yesterday. But, I threw a pirate patch on my left eye for that and watched with only my right eye. May rewatch later today to see if I missed anything but I doubt it.
> 
> And outside of all that, things are going good here. Darius is being normal and fine. Not really getting into trouble outside of not cleaning up after himself. But, again, typical so nothing too big. I guess that is really the biggest news I had.


	13. Years Upon Years

Clint found the trackers later that night as Tony had also put some in his pajamas. Wouldn’t do to have the boy get taken during the night or even have Clint run during the middle of the night with no way to track him. The first one the boy noticed, he crushed before stepping forward to check on more.

“Agent Barton, I would prefer if you left the trackers alone for your own safety,” JARVIS warned before the young boy could find another. Clint paused, looking out of his closet toward the rest of the room. “We do not wish to lose track of you if something happens.”

Clint winced, his mind focusing on the information he had given JARVIS to relay earlier in the day. He was safe here. With friends. Tony had only put the trackers in as a protection guide. If he ran for it or was kidnapped, Tony could easily use these trackers to find him. The genius’s paranoia might also have to be due to the fact that he already had one friend missing. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry. That’s... That’s gonna be something to add in the morning.”

“Are you sure that is wise?” JARVIS questioned. Clint winced again as he stepped out of his closet and rubbed a hand over his face.

“Yeah... I don’t know. Just... I’d rather not have to fight you each time about it,” the boy grumbled.

“I do not mind disagreeing with the course of action you would have been about to perform, though Sir would likely appreciate not having to replace the broken devices each day,” JARVIS intoned. Clint huffed a laugh before moving to sit down on the edge of the bed. It was softer then anything he had ever been used to and he nearly fell backwards just to feel how it was when laying in it. Even though he would be doing that soon. “You do know yourself best. Would it be wise to say something first thing in the morning or after you have noticed?”

“I...” Clint replied, hesitating as he really thought it through. Biting his lower lip he sighed. “Morning. I don’t want to run the risk of my own paranoia making me ignore you.”

“Understood.”

“And again, just call me Clint. I’m not gonna understand the whole Agent Barton bit sooner or later,” Clint reminded, looking up toward what he believed was one of the AI’s sensors. JARVIS hesitated for a moment.

“Understood, Mr. Barton.” Clint barked a quick laugh and shook his head. ‘Mr. Barton’ wasn’t much better then ‘Agent Barton’ but it would have to be good enough. Sighing, he got to his feet and headed for the bathroom. Might as well get ready for bed.

When Clint woke the next morning he paused, taking stock of the situation. He was in a comfortable bed. The room was a nice even temperature. Hardly any sounds from outside. This was not the room he had gone to sleep in. Carefully, he cracked an eye open ever so slightly. Hardly enough for anyone to even notice it was open but enough for him to be able to get a slightly blurred imaged of his surroundings.

The room was fancier then Clint had ever seen. Even when he looked in on any of his richer targets. He hadn’t ever been in any of those rooms so, why was he here now? Had he seduced the owner? Had he gotten captured and this was a mind fucking torture? Cautiously, he moved a bit to see if he was somehow tied down. There was nothing. So, either he was here of his own free will or the door was locked to keep him in the room.

"Good Morning Clint Barton. My name is JARVIS. I am the artificial intelligence for Stark Towers. You have been invited to live here with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. There are others who live here as well but as they currently are not here, as such, they are not a concern of yours at the moment. If you wish to know about them, feel free to ask. Sir is currently in his labs and Miss Potts is in her office," JARVIS intoned a few second after he had noted Clint moving about. The archer was typically a solid sleeper unless having a nightmare but sensors did not indicate signs of a nightmare. Instead, it seemed to be that Clint was getting anxious.

Clint snapped into action, reaching under his pillow to grab the gun that had been stored underneath even as he rolled to the far side of the bed. He expected some sort of attack from the moment he moved but when nothing came nearing a minute later, the archer perked up, leveling the gun toward the doorway. No one was standing there. He furrowed his brow. Someone had spoken to him.

“I apologize for frightening you Mr. Barton, but, at this moment, Sir has not given me a physical form for you to shoot.” Clint jerked around, aiming toward the windows for a moment before slowly scanning the room. Whoever was speaking was right. There was no physical form in this room. But, that didn’t discount someone being in the other room. Slowly, he got to his feet, gun aim at the door. Silently, he made his way over there and glanced around the corner. “Mr. Barton, you are the only one in these rooms. I am an artificial intelligence, an... Advanced computer program.”

Clint frowned, lowering his gun. “What?”

“My name is JARVIS, or Just A Rather Very Intelligent System,” JARVIS explained. Clint sighed deeply, looking toward the ceiling before he noticed the cameras and speakers. Then he frowned. What the hell was he doing at a place with a sophisticated system? “Would you care for more information?”

“I...” Clint started before a sudden flash hit of the past few weeks. While a few bits of it was confusing, he at least now remembered why he was here. He sighed and rubbed his face. “How... How long was I out?”

“This time you lasted for nearly three minutes before you memory returned,” JARVIS informed. Clint grimaced. He’d been having flashes that stuck him into the memories of whatever age he had mentally regressed too. This time he remembered panicking over what mission he was supposed to be on during his assassin days. That meant he had been around seventeen.

“Damn it,” Clint mumbled.

“Is there any protocol that you wish to change for when the moments get longer?” JARVIS wondered. Clint sighed before shaking his head. They had already created a system that after three minutes of not remembering the first moment Clint woke as a six year old and lived in the tower, the AI was to play a pre-recorded video. So far the incidents of regressing to the point of forgetting the tower were few and far between but Clint wanted to be prepared.

“It’s all good, J. And remember, to call me Clint, not Mr. Barton,” he told the AI.

"Understood Master Clint.” Clint sighed. It was the best he’d get from JARVIS. “Breakfast is waiting for you upstairs. I have made pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast. Apple juice and milk are waiting in the fridge."

"Thanks," Clint replied as he slowly headed back to his room. He dropped the gun down gently onto the bed before looking at it a bit more carefully. Why had he have a gun under his pillow? He typically used an arrow or a knife. Biting his lip he debated the prospect of putting a knife under there. It wasn’t until he started training with Buck and Jacques that he started sleeping with a knife under his pillow. In the end he decided to put the gun away and exchange it for the knife. Maybe when he hit the time before Buck and Jacques he’d take the knife away too.

Shaking his head, he turned to his closet. Now that he was looking a bit better, Clint noticed the excessive amounts of post it notes marking where everything was in his room so that he would remember. Not that he had forgotten any of that for long enough for it to matter. He grabbed the first shirt he saw before turning to get dressed in the rest of his outfit.

\----------

“There’s a pool!?” Clint called as he walked into the room in shock. JARVIS said nothing as he had learned that often times Clint was just talking to himself. The boy looked about, analyzing each and every item in the area. A robot sat in the far corner and Clint could only assume the bot must act like a life guard as it had attachments that clearly could stretch across the pool and lift a person. Smiling, Clint headed over to the bot and started looking it over a bit more closely. He never had done this when down in the lab with Tony as he had figured the genius would have told him to back off. As if sensing eyes on it, the robot perked up. “Wow.”

“That is RILG though Sir often calls her Rig instead,” JARVIS informed without prompting. The bot gave off a soft and pleased whirr as Clint seemed to brighten at the news.

“She’s amazing,” the boy replied. Again the bot whirred in a preening pride. Clint laughed and reached out to touch the bot but paused before actually doing so. The bot took over the last few inches as it reached forward. Clint laughed lightly as he ran his hand across the bot. “How many bots does Tony have?”

“RILG is the forth bot in the tower. U, Butterfingers and Dum-E are usually found in the lab with Sir.” Clint frowned, backing away from RILG as he looked right to JARVIS’s camera.

“Dummy. That’s sorta mean. I mean, he’s based on a particular design so it isn’t his fault that he is a simple bot, right?”

“Dum-E was the first robot that Sir built,” JARVIS stated. Clint huffed a small laugh before looking to RILG. This bot must have been a bit more complicated then Dum-E. It would have to sense that someone was in trouble, then where the person was in the pool, move to the best position to help, aim the boom properly with the likely flailing person, hook them up (possibly without help from them) and take them out of the pool gently. Smiling, he reached out to the bot again and again RILG made him actually touch.

“What does R, I, L, G stand for?”

“Robotic Interactive Life Guard.” Clint arched an eyebrow but didn’t say anything else about it. Instead he focused on the bot before him, examining it to the best of his ability without touching anything inside which could be important.

“Is... Is Tony too busy for me to visit and go see Dummy and You?” Clint questioned, backing away from RILG a few minutes later. He wanted to compare the differences between each bot, see what Tony did from bot to bot. While he was pretty sure that Tony wouldn’t like him checking the bots out, Clint wanted to do it before he fully forgot about his robotic knowledge.

“I do not believe Sir would mind you going to visit,” JARVIS answered. Clint smiled and nodded before waving to RILG and walking off. The bot whirred a bit behind him but didn’t make chase. About a minute or two later, Clint arrived at the lab.

“Steve, I’m doing what I can! There is a lot to go over!” Tony cried. Clint froze at the doorway. It had been hinted a few times that Tony didn’t want the other Avengers knowing what happened. And as much as he had been told that he was friends with them, he had no actual memory of hanging out with them. Video proof wasn’t enough to convince him either.

“I know, Tony. I’m just worried. We always assumed Hulk would have helped him escape by now. I mean, it’s been almost three weeks,” Steve sighed from over the speakers. Clint winced. He remembered that he used to be able to help Tony look but with everything going on now, he couldn’t. Often times when he tried to think of the memories he was missing then his head would ache to a small degree so he tried to mostly avoid thinking about any of it. As long as JARVIS kept reminding him of the other Avengers then things would be fine.

“Yeah, yeah. I know how long it’s been. I’m working as fast as I can. These guys have the advantage on us and the longer it takes the better the advantage. I get that,” Tony growled. Clint gave off a soft whine at the thought of a friend being lost. While he may have no memory of meeting the guy, Clint could tell that Tony seriously cared for him.

“I know, I know. I’m not trying to upset you here,” Steve said, his voice softer and apologetic. Tony rubbed a hand over his face. “I wish I could get in contact with Natasha and Thor.”

“Yeah, that Heimlich dude would be helpful. All seeing and stuff,” the genius agreed. There was a soft snort on the other end of the line.

“You mean Heimdall?”

“Same difference,” Tony retorted though a small smile appeared on his face. After a moment he sighed. “Alright, well. I’ll talk with Clint see if he’s got anything but I doubt it.”

“You can get in contact with him? I’ve tried and it goes right to voicemail,” Steve huffed, his tone clearly upset with this development. Tony paled slightly and stiffened a bit. He had forgotten Clint and him had told JARVIS to block all of Clint’s calls.

“Yeah, uh. He dropped by yesterday to give me an update,” Tony lied. Clint frowned, not liking the idea of lying to a friend. He didn’t have many friends and he didn’t want to lose one based on something as simple as informing them that he somehow turned into a kid. Steve clearly sighed deeply. “I don’t know why he doesn’t have his phone on or whatever. Maybe he just doesn’t want to be interrupted?”

“It’s his Avenger’s line phone. One he swore he’d never have off as the number is connected to every phone he works with,” Steve accused. Tony winced. “Forget it. At least now I know he isn’t missing as well.”

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Tony mumbled under his breath. Clint grimaced before figuring this wasn’t a good time. He turned on his heel and rushed off.

\----------

Knowing Tony was busy, Clint debated heading down to see Pepper. He remembered something like someone down there knowing about him but... If they were keeping his status a secret from friends then he shouldn’t risk doing it to the lady he had dealt with before. A shudder ran up his spine as he thought about it. Sighing, he headed to the living room and paused as he stared at the floor to ceiling glass windows that opened out to a balcony outside.

“Woah,” Clint whispered before grimacing as he remembered seeing the balcony before and having hung out out there as well. Shaking his head, he turned to the TV. “Hey, JARVIS. Is there a remote for the TV?”

“It should be in the drawer of one of the end tables. My exact knowledge of it is limited as it has rarely been used,” JARVIS answered. Clint nodded and thankfully the first end table the boy looked into had the remote. He smiled and pressed power. It had been forever since he watched actual TV and it would be nice to see what was on now.

Clint spent the rest of the day in front of the TV not saying much of anything to anyone. Not that it mattered as Pepper and Tony did not make an appearance on any of the floors that Tony. That night JARVIS had to once again remind him to leave the trackers on his clothing and there had to be a brief reminder of what had been going on. Clint hated the idea that he was loosing memories but he was just hitting his start at Tibolt’s. When Clint woke the next morning, he was completely lost.

“Where is Barney?” he asked after JARVIS explained things and Clint got his memory of the time since he de-aged. Much of it was getting spotty or dreamlike but the nearer the days were, the more he remembered.

“Your brother is currently busy but I can assure you that he is safe,” JARVIS informed. Clint nodded. A distant memory of him telling the AI to say that Barney was safe came to him for a second before vanishing. “Is there an issue, Master Clint?”

“Nah, no. It’s all fine,” Clint soothed though in his mind he made a plan. If Barney wasn’t here then he wasn’t safe. He was back with Buck and Jacques at Carson’s. Now he just needed to find a way to leave the tower without it bothering Tony or Pepper. He didn’t want to cause an issue with them. They had been pretty nice to him so far and they seemed like they’d be more then willing to take Barney on as well. Clint just needed to let his brother know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another brand spanking new chapter that is adjusting the story just minorly from what I had written and what I had planned. But, I think I can get it back on track cause I really don't want to have to rewrite the whole thing.
> 
> Darius is currently being the most annoying pain in the butt. Both hubby and I have been attempting to get him to clean up but he's been giving us more and more issues as the day goes on. We're both at the point were anytime he asks us to do something with him we ask if the living room is cleaned. When it's not, we tell him to clean. Once it's clean then we'll play. But, apparently he doesn't seem to care outside of the five minutes of complaining that he doesn't want to clean. Ugh. Parenthood.


	14. I am Who?

“Is... Is that really me?” Clint asked, staring at the video his older self had set up with JARVIS. While the AI had explained what had been going on and assured him that he was safe and Barney was safe, Clint was having a hard time believing it all. Why would _he_ end up on a superhero team? He was already having enough trouble drawing a crowd at Carson’s now a days. Or well, not trouble considering the seats were always sold out but when Clint had first started his solo act a few years prior, it had become all seats filled and most of the rest of the audience area filled with people standing.

“Yes, Master Clint. As I have explained, you are here at Stark Tower among friends after a small accident has returned you to your young age,” JARVIS repeated. Clint looked down at himself again. He had to admit it was rather believable that he had somehow de-aged considering he last remembered being a teenager, but at the same time, it was odd to think that he was actually in his early 30s.

“Okay,” Clint muttered. There was honestly no denying that something had happened to him and so at this point, he might as well go with the flow. The video had repeated JARVIS’s statement of Barney being okay but that was hard to believe. To his mind, Barney was still with Bucky and Jacques, not the very vague mention of JARVIS saying he’s fine. Which Clint was pretty certain meant that Barney was actually dead or locked away in jail. Yeah, dark thoughts but those were the only good excuses he could come up with as to why Barney wasn’t here and why the video and JARVIS didn’t give an exact location for him. “What... Uh, what time is breakfast?”

“I can have whatever you wished prepared in the communal kitchen whenever you wish,” JARVIS informed. Clint frowned. That sounded cool. He knew that the Starks were a very rich family but he had never lived with rich people before. It had just been his parents, the orphanage (with a few visits to foster homes) and Carson’s.

“Uh... Can I have pancakes?” Clint questioned before a flash struck him of the past three or so weeks that he had spent in the tower in his young body. He remembered having memory issues. Remembered asking JARVIS to help keep his memory straight and remembered that he often had moments where he regressed completely to a certain point in his life. He reached for his head with a soft groan. “JARVIS... How... How long this time?”

“You were able to complete the entire video and have a short conversation afterwards.” Clint grimaced. That meant he had been stuck in his memories for at least an hour. If this continued, he’d be a child soon. “You seemed to have difficulty believing that you are an Avenger at this point.”

Clint frowned, thinking on where he had last been before waking up in the tower. Most of his three weeks were fading into a dream state but the past week or so was still pretty clear. But before that, he remembered being at Carson’s. He had just gotten yelled at for not being interesting enough and needing to come up with a better act soon or they’d drop him. “Yeah... Yeah, I would. And it’s gonna get worse.”

“Is there any point of the video you wish to change?” the AI inquired. Clint frowned, thinking on his time watching the video this morning. If he woke up tomorrow and he had regressed to his early days at Carson’s then he might be okay. But any earlier then that and he would be stuck with his mentality of being useless and a waste of space and food. He sighed.

“Uh. Maybe add in a poster or two of my time at Carson’s,” Clint suggested. JARVIS did a quick analysis of the video to figure out where best to place the information he had long ago gathered for the archer. “And a little less on my mercenary days.”

“Understood.”

\----------

“Sir, Agent Barton has regressed to his early times at Carson’s Carnival of Traveling Wonders,” JARVIS called out over the AC/DC being piped into the lab. Tony stalled in his work for half a second before going back to it. He needed to find Bruce quickly. Hopefully before Clint lost everything. “Sir, I believe it may be prudent for you to visit with Agent Barton at some point today.”

“It’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. I just... I just need to focus on Bruce right now,” Tony argued. JARVIS didn’t like the idea of Tony blowing Clint off but he also understood that his creator needed help to return Clint back to normal. So, he let it go and turned his attention to Pepper. Maybe she’d be more willing to spend time with Clint.

“Miss Potts, I wish to inform you that Agent Barton has lost more memories,” the AI informed. Pepper sighed, placing her head in her hands. While she hadn’t been updated as much as Tony had about Clint’s regression, she had asked to be informed each morning and night as to where Clint was.

“Okay. Let him know I have a meeting at ten and then one at two that will take me out of the tower for a few hours,” Pepper replied.

“Understood,” JARVIS answered, really not liking that Pepper had business to attend to but understood that she was running Stark Industries and that there would often be times when she couldn’t visit with even Tony. Though none of what was happening between the two would be helping Clint settle into the tower once he fully regressed to being six years old. They should be spending more time with the boy.

\----------

“There’s a theater?” Clint asked. If JARVIS could actually do so, he’d sigh in aggravation. Clint had once again regressed back to forgetting much of his time in the tower and had forgotten what he had seen and been to.

“Yes.” Clint smiled before blinking rapidly and then pressing a hand to his head.

“Fuck,” the boy swore. “Why do I keep forgetting what I’ve been doing here?”

“I have no answer to give as this is a very unique situation,” JARVIS replied. Clint snorted, shaking his head. Maybe it’s still his mind trying to protect himself from the confusion of having been here and remembering things that he now can’t. Hopefully things would make sense sooner or later.

“The video mentioned a guy missing?” Clint questioned.

“Yes. Doctor Bruce Banner has been kidnapped and Sir is working on finding him,” JARVIS answered. Clint nodded. He remembered that Tony had been looking for someone but the name had always escaped him. And if it wasn’t for the video, Clint was pretty sure he would have no idea what he looked like.

“Kay, so he’s busy and the video mentioned Pepper, she runs the company down below?”

“Yes.” Clint nodded again, glad he was getting things straight. At this point, he was pretty sure the next time he fell asleep, when he woke up again, he might not remember any of this.

“I’m sorry that I keep repeating things,” Clint hummed after a minute or two. JARVIS said nothing in response to that. The AI wasn’t sure the best answer to it. Did he tell Clint it was okay? Did he mentioned that he feared for when Clint forgot everything? JARVIS just didn’t know. Sighing, Clint moved deeper into the theater and dropped down into one of the seats. “Well, might as well watch a movie. Just, pick whatever.”

“Understood.”

\----------

Like the day before, Tony and Pepper never appeared upstairs to spend any time with Clint. And the boy hadn’t seemed bothered by it at all. Even when he remembered that he had spent a good few weeks here at the tower. Clint also hadn’t mentioned that while it was dream-like, he remembered that both of them had been more attentive to him when he had his memories. Like he had always been told, he was a nuisance. Honestly, he was lucky they even cared for him as an adult.

The next morning, Clint had reverted completely back to being six years old. His memories of the past few weeks since being changed were clearer than any memory past his current age but it seemed dream-like. Made up. JARVIS’s video of what he had missing in the past 25 or so years was very limited on knowledge but just enough to know that he learned how to fight, got a job doing some good and then started working with superheroes. Superheroes including the actual and real Captain Steve Rogers from the 1940s.

But the main thing that Clint did note in the video. There was little to no mention of Barney. What could have happened to him? JARVIS said he was safe but adults lied and while the AI technically wasn’t an adult, he had been built by an adult. Could staying here with Tony and Pepper just be one of those brief foster home meetings to see if he’d fit better here then with Old Man Winters? Would he be sent back soon? And why had Barney allowed them to be separated in the first place?

Knowing he wouldn’t get the answers from the AI, Clint took the day wandering around the tower, relearning everything about it. Yet again, Clint spent the entire day without seeing Tony or Pepper. While it once again didn’t bother Clint at all, JARVIS’s circuits were beginning to heat up with ire. Now that Clint was officially returned to six years old, it was more important for them to be around but they weren’t.

The next morning, Clint was still six full time but he remembered the day prior with full clarity. Anything before that until he was six was distant, hard to fully focus on and was confusing. Any time he tried to think about it, a headache formed so after a while he just stopped. Like the day before, he didn’t once see Pepper or Tony. And also like the day before, it didn’t bother him. Instead, he spent all day watching TV and splurging a bit on food (after JARVIS confirmed that it was perfectly fine).

When Clint woke the next morning, JARVIS was able to finally convince Pepper to at least stop by and check on the boy.

“Hey, how’s everything going?” Pepper greeted when Clint came into the communal area. The boy froze. While he had those dream-like memories of her and he had seen photos and video of her, he had never actually personally dealt with Pepper. So, seeing her now sort of threw him for a bit of a loop. “Are you settling in okay?”

“Yeah. I... I guess,” Clint mumbled, unsure how to react to her. Should he do his best to try and stay? Should he act like the man in the video? Or should he just stay away, hide himself so that he wouldn’t be a bother? Pepper nodded, smiling at him.

“That’s good to hear. I’m sorry I haven’t been around much,” she started but stopped when Clint shook his head.

“It’s okay. You’re busy. JARVIS has been taking good care of me,” the boy soothed. Pepper frowned.

“Tony hasn’t visited?” she asked. Clint stiffened. Did he make a mistake? Should he not have said something? Sighing, she got up. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“NO!” Clint cried, lunging forward to stop her before realizing what he just did. He backed off, putting his hands at his side. If he was violent then they’d return him to Old Man Winters faster. “I’m sorry! Sorry! It’s fine. I... He doesn’t need to see me.”

“Oh, Clint,” Pepper whispered, understanding that his sudden mood swing had to do with his background. While he had mentioned before that he didn’t have all that good of a childhood, she hated that he was so insecure and self deprecating. Even when he was an adult, Clint still had some self-esteem issues. She sighed, wishing that she could just stay with Clint forever but if she did that, then she at least needed a day or two to delegate things away. With that plan in mind, she stood and headed over to Clint. The boy stiffened and sucked in a tight breath when all Pepper did was kiss his forehead. “I have a bit of business to do today but I promise that I’m going to clear my schedule so I can spend more time with you.”

“You don’t have to do that! You... You’re running a business!” Clint told her, already hating that he was interfering with their lives. Last time he did that at a foster home (he hardly spent half a week there), they kicked him out faster then he could really settle in. Two more foster homes had booted him and the social worker mentioned that he wouldn’t get many more shots. If he failed here, and made them upset, he’d be stuck with Old Man Winters until someone adopted him (highly unlikely) or he died cause he was sure that he wouldn’t live till he aged out of the system.

“You’re right,” Pepper soothed though the words made Clint wince and he turned away from her. Giving of a soft smile, she pressed a hand to his chin and pushed it till he was facing her again. “I don’t have too, but I _want_ too.”

With that said, Pepper gave him another kiss on his forehead and promised to be back for at least dinner. Clint didn’t respond to her, just stared in shock at where she had last been. Pepper wanted to spend time with him? No one wanted to spend time with him. Hell, only Barney had really seemed to want to spend time with him. But Barney was his brother and that is what siblings do. They hang out together. Right?

Sadly, Pepper wasn’t able to keep her promise to Clint. Near the time she was about ready to head back up and hang with the boy, she got a phone call saying that there had been a lab explosion at one of the Stark Industry buildings in California. While normally she’d leave it for the building director there, apparently the guy had been one of those effected in the explosion. So far no one had died but the work they had been doing was likely to cause some major damage.

“Tony, you need to spend more time with Clint,” Pepper reminded, staring at the genius with her hands on her hips. Tony grimaced and looked to her.

“I need to find Bruce too,” he argued. “I can’t be everywhere Pep, and it isn’t safe for him down here. Specially now that he actually is six.”

“Tony, we can’t just leave him on his own. Please, find some time to spend with him. Even if it’s just breakfast and dinner. JARVIS is looking for signs for Bruce and he can easily run whatever samples you want to run. Everything will be okay,” she told him. Tony shook his head.

“I’ll... I don’t know. I’ll try Pep. Can’t promise anything but I’ll try,” he whispered. Pepper sighed. It was the best she’d get from the genius and she knew it. She stepped forward and pulled Tony in for a kiss which he happily returned. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Alright.”

Telling Clint that she was going to be going didn’t go as she expected. The boy had seemed terrified at the prospect of being left behind. He kept telling her that he’d be fine with JARVIS but it was plain to see that the boy didn’t think Pepper would come back. No matter how many times she repeated that she’d be back as soon as possible, Clint’s noticeable fear didn’t diminish. She told him that Tony would hopefully see him at breakfast before once again kissing his head and walking off.

For a few minutes, Clint stood in place, staring at the elevator that Pepper had left through. While he had said that JARVIS could easily care for him, he was sort of scared of Tony. He didn’t remember meeting the man in person and so far his history with male figures in his life didn’t lead to something he could look forward too. Even if JARVIS’s morning video said that Tony and him were friends, that was when Clint was an adult. Not a child. What if Tony hated child him? What if he messed everything up for his older self?

The panic of meeting Tony in the morning without Pepper made it hard for Clint to sleep that night. But he needn’t have worried. Tony wasn’t waiting for him in the kitchen for breakfast. Nor did the genius show for the entire time that Clint ate. Partly thankful that he wouldn’t have to deal with the genius, Clint attempted to go on with his day like he had the other two. Exploring and watching TV. It wasn’t like there was much else he could do.

Things continued like that till dinner where once again Clint feared meeting Tony. But once again, the genius didn’t show. Another night of lack of sleep led to a very lonely breakfast. This time, Clint actually felt hurt at the fact that Tony hadn’t showed up. Yeah, he was frightened of the man but he never expected to be completely ignored. Dinner was much the same, Clint alone at the table. The next morning, Clint was done.

It was clear now that Pepper must have been the one that wanted him to stay but she had a business to run. Clint refused to get in the way of that. Maybe, if he could just find Barney again, then he could take care of him. Brothers forever and all that. Right? But he had no idea where Barney could be. He refused to call the social worker and ask. He never trusted that she actually had his best interest at heart. Mostly it seemed like he was a hassle to her that she wanted to get rid of. While he could probably ask JARVIS for information, it was clear by the video and lack of communication over Barney that likely the AI wouldn’t help. So he was on his own.

\----------

“You want what?” the person asked. Clint winced. He had been rather shocked at the fact that the tower was so close to a transportation area. He didn’t really know what a train was, but he at least knew that it would bring him somewhere else.

“A ticket to the next place out of here?” he questioned. The person at the desk frowned. Her day had just gotten very interesting. She had assumed the boy had just been holding the place in line before a parent came over but once he reached the desk, it was just him. “Please?”

“Where are you parents?” the person wondered. Clint grimaced. He knew where this led. While he hadn’t ever run from a home or even the orphanage, the other kids had and they all told stories about adults bringing them back when they found out they had no one caring for them.

“Busy,” he lied. The person frowned.

“Why don’t we just wait here for them to come back,” she suggested. Clint shook his head.

“No, I need to get out of here as fast as possible,” he pressed. The person sat back in her seat and sighed.

“I’m sorry. But I can’t sell a train ticket to an unaccompanied child.” Clint frowned. That was a word he had never heard before. What the hell did ‘unaccompanied’ mean? Shaking it off, Clint at least knew one thing. This woman wouldn’t help him.

“Will someone else here?” he tried. The person shook her head.

“We need an adult present to buy a ticket and make sure that there is someone at your destination that will be there to pick you up,” she informed. Clint’s frown deepened. While he didn’t really understand some of that, he did get the idea that as a kid, he was going to be limited in ways of getting around.

“Okay,” he huffed before backing away. “Thanks anyway.”

“Kid, wait. Why don’t you wait here till your parents get back? They do know you’re here, right?” the person inquired. Clint stiffened. Oh no. As a frown began to appear on the woman’s face, Clint spun on his heel and bolted. “HEY! WAIT!”

But Clint didn’t stop. He just kept running. Waiting for parents or adults that wouldn’t come would sooner or later mean that he’d be brought back to Winters. And there was no way he wanted to willingly return there. He just wanted to find Barney. Barney would know what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently down at Walt Disney World!!!!!!!!!! Just arrived in last night but thankfully I was smart enough to edit this chapter _before_ coming down so it was a quick sign in and post, lol.
> 
> We drove down from Mass to Florida which took a total of two days. Started Wednesday at around 730, stopped at around 830 or 9 or something. Started again at 730 on Thursday and arrived at around 530 at Disney's Riviera Resort. Considering we were trapped in a car for two days, Darius only became a big issue on the final four hours of the second day. Which, was longer then I thought he would have lasted. He was mostly upset cause his butt was hurting. Again, understandable due to being in a car seat the entire time. He's a little loud here at the hotel but the walls seem thick enough or we just don't have neighbors cause I can't hear a dang thing, lol.
> 
> I'll hopefully be able to edit the next chapter throughout the week but if I don't, I apologize. I will be driving for the second day back home on Friday so I can't guarantee anything.


	15. News

Tony reached the police station only an hour after Clint had been brought in and the call had been made. The boy was sitting handcuffed to a chair by the officer's desk. Upon seeing Tony come in, Clint brightened for a moment before he realized what the situation looked like. Then he ducked down as low as he could go. The officer noticed this and glanced over at the entrance to see the billionaire. Needlessly, he waved. Tony nodded and headed over.

"So, as I mentioned on the phone, we may need to keep him for a bit," the officer said to Tony in greeting. Tony frowned. While not much had been said other then the fact that Clint had been found at a bus stop alone, Tony knew something else had happened. “He attacked on of the officers.”

“Oh,” Tony mumbled with a darker frown then before as he looked toward the young boy. Clint said nothing. He just stared at the floor.

"My partner isn't pressing charges," the officer informed, looking the duo over for a second before focusing on Tony.

"Okay. Thanks," Tony muttered. The officer nodded but slid a pad of paper over toward the genius. It took Tony a bit longer than he would have liked to admit that the officer wanted his signature as a bribe to not press charges. Growling at the implication, Tony snatched a pen and quickly scrawled his name on the pad. The officer nodded his thanks before taking the pad back.

"Now, I assume he's adopted?" Tony froze. He had no proof that Clint was with him. Clint jerked his head up in surprise. He didn't know that Tony was his father. JARVIS had never said that. The AI had only said that Tony was caring for him. Did that mean Tony was caring for him as a father?

"Uh. Not really," Tony mumbled, humiliated. The officer frowned. "We... Uh, we haven't fully signed the papers yet."

"Ah... Who is your case worker?"

"Case worker?" Tony questioned in shock. The officer glanced at him.

"The person in charge of this adoption?" No reaction. "The person who inspects to make sure everything is going good and you are all adjusting?" Again, nothing. "No one has come to see you about adopting him or seeing if your place is a suitable environment?"

"No," Tony moaned beginning to see the bigger issue that this whole thing was about to cause. The officer's frown deepened. This was becoming a bigger issue then the man first had thought. It had seemed odd to him that Clint had been running away and refused to say anything other then the fact that he had been staying with Tony Stark. To be honest, the officer had been rather surprised when the genius had agreed to come to the station to collect the boy. Tony again almost winced. Instead he focused on Clint and gave him a look that basically warned him to 'sit there and be silent or you're in deeper shit'. Clint focused back on the floor.

"What is his name?"

"Clint," Clint replied, looking up at the officer before Tony could speak. Tony almost groaned. He had been planning on using a fake name. Clint had been in the system once before and his name hadn’t really been removed outside of having been aged out of the system. His name had been kept on file. Along with Barney. "Clinton Francis Barton."

"Thanks," the officer grumbled before typing the name in the system. He was rather surprised to actually find a boy by the same name already existed. But that boy had gone missing at almost ten years old and would now be around 30. Glancing at the six year old beside him, he frowned. Maybe this kid was a junior? "Named after your father?"

"No... My father was Harold," Clint sniped. The officer looked back at the report. Indeed, this older report had a father named Harold. Shrugging it off as a coincidence, the officer sighed deeply. Typing in a request to the orphanage that Clint had long ago left, the officer mentioned that Clint was trying to be adopted by Tony Stark and no one from OCFS (Office of Children and Family Services) had been in to check on the family.

"So, is that everything?" Tony wondered aloud. The officer finished typing his report before looking back at the two. Right away Tony could tell he shouldn't have asked but then again, he was Tony Stark. He had a reputation to uphold and sitting there waiting, was totally not upholding it.

"OCFS will explain some things to you two and will basically take over from here. But, I need to speak to Clint alone," the officer told Tony. Frowning, Tony nodded and stood up. He looked back at Clint but the boy refused to look at him. Sighing, Tony walked away. "Is it true that Mr. Stark has actually been caring for you?"

It wasn’t that the officer didn’t believe Tony. But there was just something a bit to funky about this entire situation. The officer just couldn’t place what it was that made it funky.

"JARVIS said so," Clint whispered, not looking at the officer. The officer frowned as he tried to figure out how JARVIS fit into this situation. Clint sighed when he realized that most people might not know who the AI was. "JARVIS is an artificial intelligence that runs Stark Towers."

"Okay. And who takes care of you at Stark Towers?"

"Mostly JARVIS," the boy admitted, his memory of the other weeks were Tony and Pepper had taken care of him lost to the tapes that JARVIS played. Clint only could watch them and even then, it just never felt real. Just like he was watching a recording or a fake video.

"Uh hun. And, do you feel safe there?" Clint frowned at the officer before nodding. He hadn't felt safe in most other places but there didn't seem to be a problem at the towers. All he had wanted to do was find Barney and make sure he was safe. "Do you want to go back with Mr. Stark?" Clint looked over at the billionaire, confused. The genius looked tense. Almost afraid of what was going to happen. But the boy remembered what JARVIS and Pepper told him. Tony Stark was his friend. Slowly, Clint nodded. The office sighed and took a small card from off his desk. "Okay, I'm going to let you go home with Mr. Stark. But... Call me, if there is any more problems, okay?"

"O... Okay," Clint muttered as he took the card that the officer began handing him. As gently as he could, the officer un-cuffed the boy. Slowly, Clint slid off the chair and began to slink over toward Tony. The officer watched and when Clint got to Tony's side, Tony reached to grip the boy's shoulder but stopped when Clint winced. Sighing, Tony gently let his hand hover behind Clint as he led the boy out of the station. The officer's partner turned to him.

"Think that was a mistake?"

"It's Tony Stark. Why would he be abusing the boy?" The officer replied before turning back to the report of the Clint Barton that would be about 30 now. He frowned. Could he have gotten this whole thing wrong?

\----------

Tony said nothing as he drove the two of them back to Stark Towers. He had no idea what to say about the whole situation. Was this an attempt at running away or was it just a misunderstanding of something different? If it was an attempt at running away, how could Tony fix it? How could he get Clint to trust him? But, it it was something different, some small misunderstanding, what was it? What made Clint run?

JARVIS made sure to tell Pepper about what happened and she had sent a text to Tony saying that she was dealing with it as fast as she could. The CEO was used to many possible situations like this. Tony actually had no idea how many times there had been moments were random strangers had gone to the press claiming to be related to Tony. Or other such insane stories. Covering something like this couldn't be hard? There was no way they could allow OCFS to get a hold of Clint.

Speaking of, the boy just sat in the passenger seat, focused on the floor. He said nothing about what had happened and what was going to happen. Nor did he want to talk about it. Clint had no signs of what was going on in his head. Tony looked at the boy for a brief second before sighing. He had no idea how to start this much needed conversation.

A few minutes later, Tony pulled into the garage of Stark Towers. Pepper had already sent a second text, explaining that she'd be a while and wouldn't greet them. And with no one else in the tower, Tony and Clint just sat there in the car. Tony cut off the engine but still sat there, gripping the wheel as he wondered what he could say. Clint didn't look up. He kept staring at the floor, lost in his thoughts. They were like that for another five minutes before Clint looked over at Tony.

"Are you going to send me back?" Clint softly asked. Tony jerked his head over to look at Clint dumbfounded.

"What? No! Hell, no!" Tony called, believing that Clint was talking about the police department. Clint looked back to the floor. "What makes you think I would?"

"Anyone else would," Clint muttered. Tony frowned deeply before fully turning to face Clint. "I've seen others sent away from different homes already. And no one wanted to take me before... Winters always said I was 'too much to handle.' Just like the others."

"I will never get rid of you. I will never send you away. An anyone who thinks they should, are stupid, evil people," Tony reprimanded Clint. The boy winced at the genius's tone. Tony moved his hand to pull the boy into a hug but paused and watched as Clint winced again. He frowned before remembering that Clint was getting closer to ages that he had been beaten at. Of course a stranger's hand coming toward him would make him frightened. "Clint, you never need to worry about something like that from me."

"I... I know... I mean... Well, JARVIS tells me that we're friends but... I... I was in Iowa a few days ago... I... I don't actually remember coming here. Just woke up in your tower," Clint whined, looking away from the genius. Tony sighed deeply. Things were getting too complicated for him.

"Look, I know things must be really confusing for you..." Tony began but was interrupted.

“Sir, I have a call from Director Fury,” JARVIS intoned. Tony winced as Clint looked toward the ceiling. He hadn’t realized the AI was down in the garage as well. Not that he had really traversed the entire tower or anything.

“Crap.”

\----------

“Stark, what did you do?” Fury demanded the minute Tony called the man’s image up on his monitors in the lab. After getting the alert from JARVIS, the genius sent Clint off to his rooms while he dealt with Fury. Tony knew he couldn’t shove this off on Pepper as she’d be too busy dealing with other things.

“I did-” Tony started but stopped when Fury scoffed.

“Don’t you lie to me Stark! We have big enough problems as it is! We don’t need whatever mess this is!” Fury snapped. Tony slammed his hands down on his desk.

“YOU DON’T THINK I DON’T KNOW!” the genius roared. Fury’s eye widened ever so slightly in surprise at the antagonistic reaching he had gotten. Sighing, Tony sagged a bit. “I’m... I need Bruce to fix this.”

“What are you talking about?” Fury questioned. Tony rubbed a hand through his hair.

“The kid is Clint.” Utter silence. Tony winced, looking up slightly to see Fury just staring at him. “Uh... Since the day after everyone left, there... Clint...”

“You turned one of my top agents into a boy?” Fury summarized. Tony winced again before nodding. “How?”

“Bruce had some of his serum out and I got it mixed in with some things I had been working on for Natasha,” Tony described. “J, send him the video.”

“Video sent,” JARVIS retorted a second later. Fury’s eye narrowed before he became distracted with opening the file and watching the video of the moments that started this whole thing. He frowned.

“I need Bruce to figure out what happened and how to fix it,” Tony explained.

“Bruce is missing,” Fury added in a dull voice. Tony nodded.

“I’m trying to find him as fast as I can cause... Well, Clint was fine originally. I mean, other then being in the body of a six year old. But, then he started forgetting things. Just yesterday, J said he regressed entirely to the point of him being six years old,” Tony described.

“Did you have any plans on telling us?” Fury wondered. Tony grimaced. “Stark.”

“I... I don’t know about at first. Once I found out about Bruce, that kinda became a bigger issue and then... I... I didn’t want to distract anyone when only Bruce can fix it.”

“Stark, I have an entire department of men and women who could help,” Fury chastised. Tony shook his head.

“Bruce has been working with them. They have no idea what he’s been doing. And, the stuff had been made to work on _him_ , not on Clint,” Tony argued. Fury frowned, looking slightly away to think about the situation Tony had gotten him and Clint trapped in. “I need everyone focused on getting Bruce right now. J is doing what he can to fix Clint in the background but we aren’t going to get anywhere without Big Green.”

“Alright. I’ll keep this secret, for now,” Fury informed. Tony sighed. “It may not last long, but I will do what I can to keep Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers from seeing the news of your ‘son.’”

“Thank you,” Tony sighed out, sagging a bit.

“You keep watch on my agent. I don’t want to hear anything else go wrong with him,” Fury warned. Tony nodded even as the call cut out. Groaning, he dropped his head into his hands. This was why he hadn’t wanted Fury knowing about what happened.

\----------

"Tony, I can't make this go away," Pepper whined to her boyfriend after she determined that Clint was asleep in the living room once again and that they could talk in the kitchen without bothering him. Tony frowned. He had only gotten off the phone with Fury an hour or so ago when Pepper demanded he come to the common floor.

"I'm not asking you too. I mean, how hard can it be to just adopt him?" Tony wondered, distracted still with everything. He knew that dropping the idea of Clint was going to be difficult. Especially seeing how often he had been with Clint in public. And the fact that the police now had a report of Clint living in the tower. Pepper sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. That had been one of the first things she asked the OCFS worker that called to confirm that Clint was indeed staying at the tower and not any one of Tony’s other abodes. And that they’d stay in the tower rather then attempting to use the other homes as ‘escape’ options.

"Apparently, really hard. Made worse by the fact that this is Avengers head quarters," Pepper moaned. Tony scoffed at that.

"You'd think people would think he's safer here," he muttered. Pepper sighed.

"OCFS is terrified of Bruce. Never mind that they claim that Thor's physiology could be a danger to Clint. And they also seem to believe that we'd allow him in the lab while you're testing dangerous things. Like the Iron Man armor," Pepper claimed. Tony lightly laughed as he remembered the many times that Clint had come down to the lab to talk to him in the past few weeks. There was no way he was going to mention that and he'd also make sure that JARVIS wouldn't mention it to OCFS either. "They need to make sure this is a safe place. And considering how many weapons Natasha and Clint were supposed to have hidden everywhere, I'm not so sure that it is."

"Oh, come on! He knows better than to play with guns!" Tony claimed. Pepper leveled a harden gaze on the genius. Tony blanched as he realized who they were talking about. Clint did learn how to use knives and a bow and arrow at a circus at the age of ten. If he had aged four years older, he'd be using the training ranges already. OCFS would love that. "Well... I think he does. Sides, JARVIS would let us know!"

"Before or after Clint shoots himself? Not that I'm discrediting JARVIS, but we have to be serious," Pepper stated. "These people have the power and ability to take Clint away if it is deemed a danger to his health to stay here."

"He's not in danger! We're the safest place for him!" Tony snapped.

"Tony, on one of the first days that Clint was de-aged I found an empty beer bottle in the living room!" Pepper cried. Tony frowned. Since Clint had turned six, he hadn't actually been drinking. He'd been staying sober so he could study. Pepper placed her hands on her hips. "It was Clint’s favorite beer. JARVIS even stated that he watched Clint drink it and didn't stop him. Heck, I even cleaned it up and didn't say anything!"

"Well... We didn't think," Tony mumbled.

"Exactly, we didn't think. Clint looks six years old to the rest of the world now. We have to act like that all the time now," Pepper told the genius. Tony winced.

"Well, he has lost all his memories now." Pepper groaned and walked away. Tony sighed and followed her. "Look, I swear, we can be good parents for Clint. We can do this. OCFS will have nothing on us. We can be responsible."

"But Tony, we have to prove it. We have to prove that we'd be good parents," she told him. Tony opened his mouth to speak but she halted him. "We have to be here for him. He needs to be educated, feed, loved."

"We can do that," Tony tried to claim. Pepper frowned.

"JARVIS, in the past week, how long have Tony and I been in Clint's presence?" Pepper asked the AI. Tony frowned, understanding what his girlfriend was getting at. They needed to be there for him. He was a kid now, not a 31 year old who just looked like a kid. Clint needed attention and human interaction.

"A total of three and a half hours," JARVIS mentioned. Tony groaned and leaned against the kitchen island. He had no idea what to say to that. There was no argument to be made for OCFS. How do you explain that he was in the lab trying to cure the six year old of being a six year old? Would they even believe Tony? Pepper sighed before moving to pull Tony into a hug. Tony hugged her back.

"Starting right now, we have to be around Clint at all times," Pepper stated, backing away. Tony looked at her. She had tears in her eyes. He sighed deeply. In these few weeks, dealing with Clint, they have all grown really close. Pepper most of all. So this situation was just very painful and dangerous. Tony gave her a soft smile as he brushed away some fallen tears drops. "S.H.I.E.L.D knows and is working on finding Bruce. They’ll also keep this from Steve. Fury said he'd call if they got any news. For now, we need to make sure Clint doesn't get taken away."

"I'll be on my best behavior," Tony promised.

"That's kind of what I'm afraid of," Pepper laughed lightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the end of my vacation has come... Dang. So sad. As promised, I edited the chapter earlier this week so I could be ready to post for today. Currently sitting here while hubby packs so we can finish the rest of our drive home.
> 
> Considering the restrictions from Covid (mostly keeping masks on at all times), Darius did excellent. His main problem seemed to be his inability to ride a lot of the rides. Most due to me knowing he wouldn't like it or the line being just long enough that I didn't think he could wait. Worst part I'm seeing for future visits is that he wants to ride Everest at Animal Kingdom but on this trip when we rode Big Thunder Mountain in Magic Kingdom, he hated Big Thunder. Said it was scary and that he didn't like the drops. Uh, kiddo... Everest has bigger drops... Yeah, he doesn't understand.


	16. Parkour?

The one thing going to Tony’s and Pepper’s advantage was paperwork. OCFS needed to collect what information they had on Clint to see what the boy’s history was. Considering Clint had been in this situation before in the eighties, the paperwork wouldn’t be correct. And even then, Tony hadn’t had JARVIS create a false identity for the archer as a young boy which meant that basically the current six year old Clint Barton did not exist. What would have taken two or three days for an agent to be assigned and brought in to check was now looking to be at least a week, if not longer, before they could come.

Clint had honestly been stunned when Pepper and Tony didn’t vanish after dinner like they normally would have (not that he truly remembered their normal outside of the day before). He knew how busy they were being CEO of a company and attempting to track down a missing person, so the fact that they were there with him was odd. And slightly frightening. But Clint was adaptable. As long as neither of them hit him, he could handle the sudden attention.

The next morning wasn’t much better either.

“What would you like to do today?” Pepper asked over breakfast. Clint had been the first to wake and after JARVIS’s quick little video reminding him that he was here in Stark Tower and that Tony and Pepper were caring for him. Not that Clint really needed it. He remembered the past two days pretty easily and if he fought hard enough against the headache, he could sort of remember other times when he was calm and felt safe around the tower. But, he still worried for Barney. What had happened to his brother? Why were they separated? “We could watch movies, play some board games, swim in the pool...”

Clint blanched slightly at that option. He hadn’t been taught how to swim and his and Barney’s one attempt at swimming in a nearby river to their home had nearly ended in Clint’s death. But he wasn’t the only one who didn’t seem to enjoy that suggestion. Tony paled lightly. He had only installed the pool for the others. Since Afghanistan, the only time he went toward water (outside of a shower) he was in his suit. There was no way he’d be able to convince Pepper that he should swim with Clint while in his suit.

“Or we could do something else?” Pepper offered, noticing that Clint hadn’t seemed to enjoy the last option and she honestly didn’t know much that kids Clint’s age would like to do. “Do you have an idea?”

Clint shook his head. He’d go with whatever Pepper suggested to do. Whenever he had opinions on things, he was typically told he was stupid or the person ended up doing anything but what he wanted. Pepper frowned, not liking the idea of forcing Clint to do something. She looked to Tony but the genius was just as confused. Out of everyone, only Pepper had a ‘normal’ childhood. Howard often ignored Tony and Maria was often busy doing things with Howard. It had been Jarvis that raised him but even then, Jarvis hadn’t always had the time to simply play with Tony.

“How bout TV? Kids like TV,” Tony suggested. Clint shrugged. That was fine with him. He hadn’t really been anywhere that not only had a TV but had given him permission to watch it.

“Might I suggest the parkour gymnasium. Many aspects seem similar to a children’s playground,” JARVIS interrupted before anyone could move toward the living room. Having been watching Clint for a while, he noted the boy hadn’t been getting much exercise. Considering the malnutrition and low Clint had started as, JARVIS hadn’t been too concerned. But, OCFS would likely like a place for him to expend energy.

“What’s parkour?” Clint questioned, looking up to the ceiling in confusion even as Tony began grumbling about training. Pepper smacked the genius lightly on the arm to get him to stop.

“Parkour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners, called tracers or traceurs, aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, plyometrics, rolling, quadrupedal movement and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation,” JARVIS answered. Clint blinked rapidly at some of the words.

“What’s a practitioner?” he wondered.

“Practitioner is one that is actively engaged in a... Hobby such as parkour, medicine, weight training, martial arts and others.” Clint furrowed his brow. That slightly made more sense. “Plyometrics is an increase of ones muscles as to be faster and jump higher or a greater distance,” JARVIS added without prompting. The AI figured that that may be an issue for the boy to understand. “A quadrupedal is an action of running on four limbs.”

“Oh,” Clint replied, thinking about the phrases and trying to break down what everything was. If one basically ran and climbed and stuff, does that mean they were always doing parkour? Cause he loved running and climbing trees.

“I can provide video evidence of parkour if desired,” JARVIS mentioned. Clint perked up a bit. That would make more sense to him. He was about to get up to go to the living room to look at the TV when a screen suddenly appeared in the middle of the table. Clint jumped slightly at the appearance. The video that began playing wasn’t really anything like what Clint expected it to be. But at the same time, he was interested in trying it. On the other side of the screen, Tony groaned.

“It’s training!” he cried. Pepper again smacked him.

“It’s fun and a good way to expend energy,” she corrected. But Clint wasn’t really paying attention to them. The video in front of him had intrigued him and he seriously wanted to go start right away.

“But Pep! Cap always wants me to do stuff like this. I complain to him too! I fight in my suit, I don’t need to do any of this,” the genius argued. Pepper pursed her lips.

“You could do with other avenues of training. Remember Christmas?” she hissed. Tony winced as he remembered the final fight with Killian. Jumping between suits to keep fighting was definitively considered parkour.

“But... Training,” Tony whined again as the video JARVIS had loaded ended. Clint looked to Tony and Pepper with a large smile on his face that dropped when he saw their faces. Pepper looked upset and angry while Tony didn’t seem enthused at all. Neither of them would want to do this. He curled into himself a little bit.

“Uh... We... We can watch TV,” he softly told them before Pepper and Tony could get into a deeper fight. His words had the duo stop and looked to him surprised and saddened.

“No, hun,” Pepper called, getting up to pull Clint into a hug. As she drew close, Clint flinched. She stopped. Apparently trying to hug him was a bit too soon. “Sweetie, we can easily go do that if you really want. We aren’t arguing about that part.”

“Yeah, pipsqueak. We’re talking about doing it with you,” Tony added though he knew now that he was going to join in. Especially if it brought a smile to Clint’s face. Clint perked up just slightly but still seemed nervous with the idea of agreeing to parkour. Noting the emotions flicking across Clint’s face, Tony sighed. “Come on. I could use some exercise.”

With that the genius got to his feet and started walking to the elevator. He knew that Clint would follow after him at some point so he wasn’t too concerned. If he had tried to personally encourage Clint to come with him, likely the boy would try and run for it. And certainly hide. Pepper gave Tony a surprised look before it fell into a smile. Clint hesitated for a moment more before getting up and headed off.

\----------

As soon as the doors to the gym opened, Clint froze. Not only was the size of the gym bigger then most homes he had been in, there was so much to climb on and jump from. It was like Candy Land (not that Clint would really get that reference at this point). Tony stepped into the elevator doorway to make sure the thing stayed open and so he could look at Clint. Though honestly the genius didn’t need to stand in the doorway. JARVIS would have let it close.

Clint’s gobsmacked expression had a large smile appear on Tony’s face. The expression was pretty similar to the one Clint had worn the first time he had seen the place. Tony chuckled, waiting for Clint to do something. When the boy was still frozen a good minute later, the genius waved a hand toward the room. “Well, come on.”

Clint gave him a brief glance before he basically bolted out onto the course. Apparently in his shock, the boy had also been planning a specific route. Tony stepped out of the elevator, watching. Yeah, he could go out there and join the boy but until Clint noticed, he was more then willing to watch. Much like nearly every parent on a playground.

Tony allowed the boy to continue for nearing an hour before he headed deeper into the room. It wasn’t long before he caught Clint’s attention which either showed how ingrained his skills were or he had younger then Tony expected to teach himself to always be alert to his surroundings. While Tony was leaning toward the second, he couldn’t hope but silently pray that it was the first option. As if sensing that Tony wanted to talk, Clint adjusted his path until he landed near the genius.

“Having fun?” Tony asked. Clint nodded, the smile on his face brightening for half a second before it shifted to a wary resignation.

“Have... Are we done?” the boy wondered. Tony shook his head.

“No, you can go at this as long as you’d like. I just wanted to see how you were doing.” Clint’s smile brightened back up but it was still wary.

“Great! Thank you so much for this!” Clint replied before glancing back to the course. It was obvious that he wanted to get back to it but was respectful of the adult before him. Tony nervously laughed at the fact that Clint was likely only doing this because he feared getting punished for walking away too soon.

“Well, go on. I’ll be over by the door doing a few things. Ya need me, just holler.” Clint looked to him and frowned.

“Don’t you use this?” he questioned. Tony paused.

“What?”

“Don’t you use this? I mean... Why else would you have it?” the boy curiously explained. Tony pursed his lips a little and Clint couldn’t help but wince and curl into himself a bit. He had apparently pushed Tony a bit to far and all he could do was wait for the hit. A hit that never came.

“I didn’t make it for me,” Tony answered. When Clint turned a confusion expression to him the genius sighed. “Well, you know there are other people here and stuff.”

“Yeah.”

“I built it for them. A lot of them like practicing their skills in here and it helps them. I personally don’t need it cause of my suit and everything,” Tony informed with a shrug of his shoulders like anyone in the world would be willing to do this for friends. Clint frowned a bit, confused. He didn’t understand why Tony would go such lengths for someone else. Everyone only took care of themselves. Right? “It’s not a bad thing and I know that Steve really wants me to do some work in here. But, I’m good.”

“Okay,” Clint nervously said. Tony smirked before waving and turning his back on the boy before he saw Clint flinch at his action. There was a good ten steps of only Tony’s movements before he heard the soft sound of another body moving. Then a soft thump. Clint had gone back to the course.

\----------

As if Tony was spending time in his lab, he quickly lost track of time. And as a child that spent ninety percent of his time being hungry, Clint didn’t even notice when lunchtime passed. Now, JARVIS had let Tony know about lunch. But he had been a bit too frightened of scaring Clint if he announced it. The boy was pretty much solidly focused on jumping and climbing about the equipment. JARVIS might have even debated telling Pepper but she had been in the middle of a meeting for Stark Industries. It ended up not being until dinner time when one of the trio was able to actually be free enough to get the notification for food.

“Darn, I worked through lunch,” Pepper sighed as she shut down her office and prepared to go up to the tower and check on Tony and Clint. She had wanted to spend the entire day with the boy but she had needed to prepare for it first. Honestly, she had some more work to do that couldn’t be covered but thankfully most of it could wait and be done anywhere in the tower so she wasn’t too worried. “How are Tony and Clint?”

“Sir and Young Clint have spent all day in the gymnasium,” JARVIS reported. Pepper frowned.

“All day? Did they miss lunch too?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I had alerted Sir and was not sure it would be safe to speak to Young Clint while he was training,” JARVIS informed. Pepper’s frown deepened. While she was glad that the AI hadn’t spoken to Clint and risked scaring the boy, Tony needed to learn that he couldn’t just lock himself away. Clint needed them. And... If they actually had a child then the younger years needed pretty much constant attention. Upset with not only Tony, Pepper quickly packed her things away and started upset, fuming. By the time she made it into the gym she was even worse. Clint was still going at it but it was clear to see he was beginning to over exert himself, even if he was having fun. And Tony was sitting by the door on his tablet, not even looking.

“ANTHONY EDWARD STARK!” Pepper shouted. Tony jumped and in the distance, Clint stumbled on his landing before panically swinging around to see that Pepper had come in.

“Peps! Hey,” Tony greeted, not realizing yet how much trouble he was in. She often yelled at him, especially when he was absorbed in work like he had been. It looked like he was almost getting a lead on Bruce. Oddly a large amount of ingredients that JARVIS had noted for Bruce’s serum had started to get delivered to a brand new company. It wasn’t much but it was something to look into. “What’s up?”

“Do you not realize that you’ve been here all day?” she snapped. Tony frowned before looking at the time in the top corner of his phone. Indeed it read that it was closer to six in the evening. The genius winced. “What have you been doing?”

“Well, technically,” Tony started but stopped when he saw her angered face.

“Taking care of Clint means he needs to be fed at normal hours. Normal hours like breakfast, dinner and _LUNCH!_ ” she cried. Tony gave her a pained look. With each and every fault he pulled he began to see how poorly he’d do as a father. He needed to pay better attention.

“I’m sorry,” a soft voice whispered, interrupting the duo. Both adults looked to see Clint meekly standing before them. His attention was aimed toward the ground and he was hunched up, waiting to be abused. “I wasn’t paying attention... I’ll... I’ll remember.”

“Oh, Clint,” Pepper sighed, suddenly realizing how all this would look to the boy. Even if she loudly blamed Tony, Clint was so used to everything getting blamed on him that he would always feel guilty and expect punishment. She stepped closer, watching the boy to see when he’d tense up. It took only three steps and Clint was still a good five steps away before he hunched in a bit more. “Honey. You aren’t at fault in this. Both Tony and I should have been more aware of the time. And we should have made sure that everything was ready for you.”

Slowly, Clint looked up to stare at Pepper. He could see the earnest emotion in her eyes and he couldn’t help but frown. Why wasn’t she blaming him? He had been the one to draw Tony away from his labs. He was the one who hadn’t noticed the time or even notice he was hungry. It wasn’t like Tony would know. And honestly, no one had ever cared before.

“Yeah, bud. It’s on me. Don’t worry, I’ll... I’ll figure out a way to remind me that I need to do something,” Tony informed, rubbing the back of his neck as he realized that no matter how many alerts he tended to put up from JARVIS, he often never responded. And most times silenced JARVIS if the AI had gotten too insistent. Though, at the same time, those incidents tended to only affect him. If the alert was to do something for Clint, the genius was pretty sure he’d respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I had totally planned on doing a Valentines Day story but... Uh... The one I started working on went really long and is going into a direction I didn't want it to go with for the second time... Yeah, I totally hated removing up to 5000 words... Twice. So, sadly, no Valentines Day story.
> 
> Darius is doing good. Due to trying to write, hubby and I have not been doing what we had planned with cleaning our house. That also means that Darius has been making a GIGANTIC mess. Any clue as to how to make a child clean? I just threatened today to throw away the toys and not buy anything new. I will be following through with it (except the actual throwing it all away). Tomorrow morning, considering I get up three hours before him, if I see toys on the floor I will be packing them away in either a bag or a box and then hiding the bag or box somewhere in the house until I deem it feet to come back. There is also a plan tomorrow of cleaning his playroom and certainly removing baby toys so, yay. Toys galore. Wish me luck?


	17. Aftermath

Considering no one had had time to make any food, JARVIS had smartly ordered some pizza to be delivered to the tower soon after Pepper had left her office. By the time Clint had showered, the food arrived. He headed up to the main floor quickly, not wanting Pepper and Tony to wait on him any longer. It was bad enough that he had gotten Pepper angry for skipping over lunch so he had to be better. They could both say that it wasn’t his fault as much as they want but Clint knew the truth. He was starting a list of failures that would add up and up and up until finally Pepper and Tony got sick of it and shipped him back to Old Man Winters.

“Little Man!” Tony cried when he spotted the boy rounding the corner. Clint paused, looking up to see the genius was smiling warmly at him. A small shudder ran over his body. The shower had relaxed him a bit more then he was used to and he had mostly come up here without thinking about it. “Come on over. We ordered pizza!”

“JARVIS ordered pizza. And I went down to get it,” Pepper contradicted, walking into Clint’s eyesight. He stiffened a bit, both at her appearance closer to him and her argumentative words. Tony waved a hand at her in dismal but both adults knew it was more as a ‘whatever, you know what I mean’ type of wave. Clint frowned at their interaction. He knew they often joked about and sometimes it sounded like they were fighting but everything about it sort of made his skin crawl. Though he was smart enough not to mention anything.

“Semantics,” the genius told her as Clint stepped further toward the kitchen. The smell of pizza wafted over to him and he had to pause so that he didn’t run as quickly toward the boxes as possible. “Come on. Don’t be shy. Got a whole thing just for you.”

“What?” Clint murmured, stunned. Pepper gently smacked Tony.

“Don’t scare him,” she warned. Tony chuckled as she looked back to Clint. “We ordered three different pizzas. A cheese, pepperoni and a meat lovers. You can chose whatever you from whichever one and eat as much as you’d like.”

“Oh... Okay,” the boy replied, stepping closer to look at the three options. While Pepper and Tony knew that adult Clint didn’t have a preference on pizza type, the archer typically stuck with meat lovers or pepperoni. But, young Clint had already shown some signs of not really caring for foods adult Clint enjoyed. Like certain veggies. That wasn’t to say he wouldn’t eat them. Clint was always careful to eat everything on his plate but the small faces he made proved his dislike.

A plate was placed in front of him before Pepper reached around him and grabbed a slice of cheese. She also tended to enjoy everything but stuck mostly with cheese. Tony loved being adventurous and so whenever a place had something strange, he loved trying it. Even if it sucked. With the Avengers now in the tower, the pizza was usually always eaten so there was no waste when he didn’t like it. Not like before. With Pepper’s choice made, Tony stepped around Clint to grab a slice of meat lovers.

The boy looked between their choices. Would they be insulted if he didn’t choose the ones they grabbed? But who should he follow? He didn’t want to upset either of them and considering they each only grabbed one slice, there was no way he’d grab more then that. Biting his lower lip, Clint scanned each and every slice. On the far side of the pepperoni was a slice that was smaller then any slice on any of the pizzas. He grabbed that one, missing the disappointed frowns that Pepper and Tony traded. They’d only comment on the choice if Clint didn’t eat anything else afterwards.

“Come on, lets go sit in front of the TV,” Tony encouraged before Clint could slink off to the dinning room table that they all normally sat at. Clint looked to him confused and then to Pepper, making sure she was fine with this choice. She smiled and nodded at him. With permission, Clint followed after Tony to the living room and carefully sat on the floor near the coffee table. “We got seats.”

“I’m fine... Don’t... Don’t want to make a mess,” Clint muttered. Once again Tony frowned and when he went to argue with the boy, Pepper placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. They had a bigger battle of making sure the boy ate ahead of them. If he was too defensive now, they’d have a tougher time. Tony sighed but nodded.

“So, what are we watching?” the genius asked. Clint shrugged, clearly indicating he’d leave it up to the adults. Tony pursed his lips but knew that there were a lot of choices so it was kind of obvious that Clint wouldn’t want to make a decision. “How about, _Robin Hood_?”

“Which one?” Pepper wondered.

“The Disney one?” She thought about it for a second before nodding. That would work. Clint didn’t often watch that one when he was older but it was on his list of top five archery movies he’d watch. Without waiting to see if Clint would agree (cause at this point the AI knew the boy would), JARVIS loaded up the film and started to play it. Silently, the trio went about eating their slices. When Tony finished his first, he headed to the kitchen and simply grabbed the boxes rather then just a slice before coming back. Pepper rolled her eyes but Clint didn’t look to be paying attention. By the time the genius returned, the introduction was finally over and Robin Hood and Little John were running from the Sheriff.

As Prince John made his introduction, Clint was about halfway through his slice and was quickly slowing down. But Pepper and Tony were a bit too invested in the movie. It was odd to watch it without Natasha or adult Clint there, commenting on the things the characters were doing and what worked and what didn’t. By the time Pepper reached for her own second slice, Clint was leaning back against the coffee table, his eyes drifting shut just a bit. They didn’t get much further before Clint’s head started to drop toward his chest a bit. Still, Pepper and Tony didn’t notice. By the time Robin Hood and Little John were running from Prince John, Clint couldn’t keep himself up any longer. He fell. The noise of his body hitting the ground had both Pepper and Tony look to him.

“CLINT!” Pepper cried, jumping up, dropping her food on the ground as she rushed to his side. Tony tossed his own plate to the ground and rushed around the other side to check on the boy.

“J!” the genius shouted. The noise they may had Clint stir for just a moment but otherwise he didn’t react. “What happened!?”

“According to my scans, Young Clint simply has... Fallen asleep,” the AI informed. There was a long pause after that before Tony snorted, relaxing at the news. Pepper sighed deeply.

“He fell asleep?” the genius repeated.

“It appears so, Sir,” JARVIS replied. “As he spent all day in the gym and had little break, it is normal for a person of his age to grow tired once finished.”

“We understand that, thank you,” Pepper chuckled, reaching forward to cup Clint’s cheek. The boy shifted a bit to get closer but didn’t wake. “I’ll bring him to his bedroom.”

“Oh... Okay,” Tony said as Pepper shifted forward to grab Clint. The motions had Clint wake ever so slightly.

“Wha?” Clint slurred. Pepper smiled down at him.

“Shh. It’s okay. You fell asleep and we’re gonna bring you back to your room,” she soothed. After a moment Clint simply closed his eyes and drifted off again. Pepper was pretty sure he hadn’t understood her but was so tired that he just slipped back off.

\----------

In the morning, Clint just about freaked out.

"Good morning Clint Barton. My name is JARVIS. I am the artificial intelligence unit that works throughout all of Stark Towers. You have been living here for some time now with Mr Tony Stark and Miss Pepper Potts. They have been caring for you and wish to adopt you," JARVIS intoned. Clint stiffened, attempting to hide himself in the large bed he was laying in before the words registered. Then he remembered. He remembered waking up, with little to no memory of how he had arrived here. Remembered attempting to go find Barney before getting caught. Remembered flashes of what could have been a time from before all that but nothing was strong until the attempt to find his brother. Still, his mind was mixed and thinking about it was getting a bit painful. “If you have any questions, you are free to ask.”

“Thanks,” Clint whispered before shifting in order to get up but his muscles screamed at him and he couldn’t help but gasp before relaxing backwards.

“Are you having an issue, Young Clint?” JARVIS asked. Clint grimaced before trying again. If he pushed through the pain then he could move but everything ached. Cautiously he shook his head. “Are you experiencing pain while moving?”

“I’m fine,” Clint softly grunted, intent on not letting the AI know how badly he felt.

“If you are experiencing pain, I can tell-”

“I’m fine,” Clint reiterated, pointedly moving faster then he’d like to get up and toward the bathroom. Once there, he near about collapsed as his legs attempted to give way, a bit too weak to hold his very light frame. Sighing, Clint waited. Hopefully things would improve soon. He didn’t want to trouble anyone. It took a minute or so before he felt he could hold himself up enough to take a piss and then _maybe_ make it back to the bed, but he wasn’t fully certain he could. He was feeling a bit stronger then when he first got up but every twitch and shift just hurt. The sound of a knock echoed into Clint’s room. He stiffened before moaning softly.

“Clint?” Pepper called through the closed door. “Can I come in, honey?”

Clint said nothing. He didn’t want to bother her. It was bad enough that she was down here right now. But, how could he kindly tell her to go away? Hesitantly, Clint walked to the bathroom door just in time to hear the click of his door being unlocked. He stiffened, panic and adrenaline flooding through him as he was suddenly reminded of his father barging into his room to wake him and give him a beating for some drunken reason.

“Clint?” a soft female voice questioned. Clint’s mind halted a bit. Females... Women... Women were safe. They... They hadn’t beaten him before. Cautiously, he unfroze and looked to see Pepper was standing just past the bedroom doorway. She had only gone in far enough to get a sight line on the boy. “JARVIS said something was wrong.”

“I’m fine. It’s nothing,” Clint tried to tell her. To prove his point, he attempted to walk over toward the bed again. About halfway through his left leg suddenly tightened and clamped down. He couldn’t help but cry out before dropping to his knees. Pepper ran forward.

“CLINT!” she cried, reaching for the boy as she examined every inch of him. She had already been worried when he fell asleep so quickly yesterday night and now this. Something was going on. Through tears he looked up at her.

“I’m okay, it’s fine... I’ll just-” Clint started to say but stopped when Pepper shook her head.

“No, we’re going to go get you checked on, right now.”

\----------

“A muscle spasm?” Tony repeated. After Pepper had declared that she was going to bring Clint down to the medical floor, he had raced to join them. Clint was still near tears by the time they got there but he looked to be attempting to push past it. He kept repeating, over and over, that he was fine. The docs didn’t have to look him over long before they knew what the boy was suffering from. Clint was so thin that the spasm was actually pretty clear to see which was one thing the docs didn’t like but seeing as he had gained a bit of weight since the first time they saw him, they weren’t going to nit-pick it.

“Charlie horse, muscle cramp... Take your pick. He’s fine. Likely needs a lot of rest today. Looks like he may have overexerted himself and today his muscles are basically protesting it,” one doc informed. Tony huffed, looking to Pepper. She was still giving Clint a worried look. The boy was still whimpering a bit but it was tapering off as one of the nurses gently massaged the area. “Just watch over him. He might get a few more cramps like this, especially if he moves too quickly, but it’s nothing dangerous. You just might want to be more careful in the future of how much exercise he gets.”

“Understood,” Pepper replied, gently placing a hand on Clint’s shoulder, drawing the boy’s attention up to her. She softly smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered which made nearly everyone in the room frown. “I didn’t mean...”

“No one means for this to happen. It can happen to the best of us,” the nurse massaging him soothed. Clint frowned now. They weren’t understanding him. He didn’t care about the pain. He cared about the fact that he worried them. That he took up their time over something so simple.

“Hey, it’s cool. We’d rather have you checked on then not know,” Tony muttered, catching the look that Clint had sent. He knew what it was like to not want to be in the way. Not want to draw much attention to himself. Tony grew out of that stage pretty quickly but for a good long while he tended to hide from Howard. Made sure he wasn’t in the man’s way. Jarvis, the person, had broken the genius out of his shell and gave him the confidence to act as a child should. Even if his way of life wasn’t as common as other children. “We’re just glad it isn’t anything bad.”

Clint said nothing, turning his attention to the ground as the last bit of the spasm was rubbed away. Once he felt that, he gently pulled his leg away from the nurse. No point in having her continue if he was good now. The nurse sighed deeply, not pleased at the boy’s action but wasn’t going to comment. Pepper shifted her hand to rub it through Clint’s short locks of blond hair. He turned toward it, soothed for a moment before realizing what he did and instead pulled away. She sighed.

“You’re all good to go. Remember, rest and things will be okay.”

\----------

As the doctors suggested, Tony and Pepper brought Clint upstairs (Tony carrying the boy the entire way much to Clint’s embarrassment) and created a comfortable spot in the living room. Knowing he wouldn’t really enjoy the idea of special treatment, Tony basically hinted to Pepper that she should pamper both of them. Next time they needed Clint to rest for a while, he’d take her place. She, thankfully, agreed though she didn’t enjoy that she was the one who had to do everything.

“A movie party?” Clint echoed confused as Pepper collected blankets and pillows from various spots around the room. It wouldn’t be the first time that the group did this nor would it be the last. Often times people sat in the seats around the living room but when someone was injured (ie: Clint) they tended to basically create a nest on the floor and hung out there.

“Yup. Marathon of films while not moving a muscle!” Tony announced. Pepper huffed, a small smile on her face. “Well, for you and me. Peps will be getting us food and drink and stuff as the day goes on.”

“I can get my own stuff!” Clint attempted to argue, not at all comfortable with Pepper caring for him. Well, he liked the idea, but he still didn’t want to be a bother. And having her basically wait on him was certainly a bother.

“You need rest,” Pepper pointed out, coming back with the pile. Tony got to his feet and started working on the nest. Usually the Avengers traded off who did it so the genius did have experience in creating a pretty comfortable one. Pepper normally joined after the nest was created but often cleaned up (with Steve’s and Bruce’s help) at the end of the ‘party.’

“But-”

“But nothing. You need to rest and relax. That’s all we want you to do today,” Pepper interrupted, holding up a finger to basically prove that she wasn’t going to budge. Clint winced but nodded and focused on the floor. The CEO sighed deeply. She hated the fact that Clint was so demure at this age. All she wanted to do was just wrap him up in a hug and never let go. But he hardly tended to tolerate a minute of it, even if he seemed to take extreme pleasure of it at first.

“Nest done!” Tony announced happily, waving toward his ‘masterpiece’ of a nest. Clint arched an eyebrow at the mess, wondering how angry they’d be about it later. How would they punish him for the need to make such a mess? Lost in thought, he missed Tony walking over up until the genius grabbed him bridal style and started to carry him over.

“Wait! No! I can-” Clint tried to object but he was a bit too slow. By the time he was saying ‘can,’ he was already being laid in the nest.

“You can get comfortable while Peps and I get some breakfast for us. J will be watching you,” Tony told him, a soft warning tone at the end. Clint winced, nodding. With that done, Tony and Pepper wandered off to get ready for the day. The less times Pepper had to get up and fetch Clint things the better. It took the duo about ten minutes to collect everything for the day and pile it up around the outside of the nest for easy reach. Then they plopped down on either side of the boy. “Disney marathon? Yes? Okay, lets go!”

“And if we wanted to watch something else?” Pepper jokingly asked. Tony shook his head.

“Nope. Disney,” he argued. “Gotta watch all the classics. Maybe touch into some of the newer stuff but the classics.”

“Alright. Then we’ll start with the first. _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ ,” Pepper countered. Tony nodded and the movie loaded up. The duo settled in but Clint was still stiff. He was glad that they be enjoying the movie with him and all, but he felt bad that they needed to do this. Biting his lower lip, Clint finally decided to apologize but Pepper gently cupped his face. “It’s okay. We want to care for you. You aren’t a burden.”

“Yeah, squirt. Just relax and enjoy some films,” Tony added. Clint frowned but nodded his head.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So tired... I've been writing non-stop all week. Sadly, not on this series. There are a few other stories that I've been working with. It's hard to focus solidly on one so I often jump about but it also sometimes leave me with no idea what to write in any story.
> 
> Darius is being stubborn. Fighting listening to me, cleaning up after himself, and other things. My exhaustion made things a bit worse every now and then. I think the worst thing about all this is that I have kind of allowed the house to get a bit messy so it's not a good example for Darius to follow. Ugh. Chores...


	18. Bad Things Keep Happening

Clint woke gasping, terror still making his body shake as he tried to come to grips with what he had dreamed. His brother, standing over him. Bloody knife in hand and an evil looking grin that reminded the young boy far, far too much of their father. Something about the dream made him think it was more a memory of some sort but Barney had never done something like that. Barney protected him.

Shaking, and working hard on controlling his breathing, Clint didn’t even notice JARVIS calling out for him. He was too lost in the feelings from his dream and trying to keep himself quiet. Long ago he had learned that disturbing others due to a bad dream was not a good thing. In his distress, he also didn’t notice his bedroom door opening and Pepper and Tony coming inside.

The moment Pepper and Tony arrived in the bedroom, the genius froze. Clint looked to be having a panic attack. He was pale, breathing heavy and a light sheen of sweat glistened on the bits of skin that Tony could see. Pepper rushed ahead, heading right to the boy’s side. While adult Clint wouldn’t like any type of comfort, she felt that young Clint desperately needed it. She gently placed her hand on his arm. Instantly, the boy jerked away and rolled toward the edge of the bed only to fall off when he overestimated the size.

“Clint!” Pepper cried, horrified that she had scared him rather than soothed him. The boy stiffened. Female... It was a female voice that had called out to him. His dreams had all been men. Barney, his father, men that he recognized but couldn’t place a name too... As if doused in cold water, Clint came back to himself and looked up to see a worried Pepper and Tony. They both stood on the other side of the bed, clearly not wanting to get too close and frighten him any further. But, Clint didn’t need that right now. He lunged across the bed and hit Pepper hard as he attempted to pull her into a hug. She grunted in surprise and rocked back a bit before she understood what the boy wanted. Slowly, she put her arms down and pulled him into a hug. “Oh, honey.”

“What happened?” Tony whispered, almost afraid that his voice would ruin whatever moment his girlfriend and friend were having. Clint shook at his voice. That reaction alone had Tony realize what the boy might have dreamed. At this point in Clint’s life, men had been an issue. They had all abused him, physically, mentally and emotionally. Hearing another man’s voice would just make things worse. As if sensing the same thing, Pepper glanced to the genius and Tony mouthed that he’d wait outside. This was all up to her.

Pepper waited, feeling the boy shake in her arms. She wasn’t going to move until she was sure he’d be okay. But as time passed, she couldn’t help but wonder. What had cause such extreme duress? Could it have been a dream about the abuse he had lived through already in his short life? Could it have been another flashback of the crash that killed his parents? Or, could it have been something else? Was it possible that he remembered a memory that his body had yet to live through?

“Sweetheart, are you okay?” Pepper asked, making sure not to let go of the archer. It was honestly up to Clint how long this lasted and he clearly hadn’t wanted to let go just yet. The boy shook a bit more. Clearly he wasn’t up to talking yet. Again, that was fine. Pepper sighed, curling herself around him a bit more. They stayed like that for another five minutes or so before Clint began to pull away. Pepper easily released him. “Honey?”

“I’m sorry. I... I didn’t-” Clint started to stutter, wanting to apologize for waking her and Tony. He really liked staying with Pepper and Tony. If he upset them tonight... Especially after the past few days... But to his surprise, Pepper pulled him back in for a hug.

“Oh, Clint. Don’t apologize for a nightmare,” she soothed. Clint stiffened slightly before melting into the second hug. It was hard to believe that she was ready to forgive him for his slight. No, he needed to... Pepper sighed, feeling the stiffening of the boy’s muscles and instead began to stroke his head. “Tony and I would rather we know then to have you suffer, sweetheart.”

Clint didn’t respond but it was clear that he wasn’t really sure how to react to her reassurances. Pepper tried not to read into that too much. Clint’s history was far, far too broken for her to be able to solve in one night. And this was even with him not remembering a lot of it. The amount of damage Harold Barton had caused on his boys was insurmountable. It was amazing how well even one of them turned out (thought technically both as none of the Avengers knew that Barney was an FBI agent). Clint waited another few minutes in Pepper’s grasp before finally pulling away.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be okay now.” He needed to let her go rest. Honestly, he wasn’t okay. He still felt like he was going to be attacked by someone hidden in the shadows of the room the moment Pepper left. It was a slightly irrational fear due to knowing that there was no way Harold or Barney could be in the tower. Especially without JARVIS knowing.

“Are you sure?” Pepper wondered, unconsciously knowing that the boy wasn’t as comfortable as he attempted to seem. Clint looked away from her. It was a tell tale sign that he was lying to her. Not anything bad but just enough to prove to her that she shouldn’t leave him be. “I don’t want to leave you here unless I’m sure you’re actually okay. And not just saying that cause you feel bad.”

“I’ll-” Clint started, shifting himself away from her as if he felt like she was going to hit him.

“Clint. Please, be honest,” Pepper interrupted making the boy wince. She sighed, realizing there wasn’t much she could do to keep him calm. He was too tense. She needed something to calm him down. But what? Cautiously, she looked about. There had to be something... Her eyes landed on the bright blue fabric hidden by a red and gold outfit. It was perfect. A small smile appeared on her face before she looked back to the boy. “Wanna know a secret?”

Clint paused, looking at her with a highly confused expression. She turned back around and grabbed the stuffed bear and showed it to him. His brow furrowed a bit more in confusion. What did a stuffed animal have to do with anything? His gaze shifted between the animal and the woman. Pepper’s smile turned slightly sad but still stayed.

“When I was a little girl, I had a stuffed animal. A lot like Stevie here,” she started. Clint frowned now. His gaze once again shifted from the bear to her. “She had keep me safe every night. Protected me from bad dreams and horrors.”

“How is he gonna stop my dad?” Clint mumbled before realizing what he had just said. His eyes widened a bit in shock, looking Pepper over to see what she thought of his admission. Pepper’s smile turned pained and sadder then before. She hated the fact that the poor boy was so terrified of his father. And generally of being hurt for normal things like a damned nightmare.

“Oh, honey,” she said before stepping closer and dragged him into a hug again. He didn’t fight her. Then again, he also didn’t really relax into her arms. Thankfully though, Clint didn’t stiffen. Instead, he just stood there. After a second she backed away and made sure that he was looking at her. “Stevie can protect you from whatever you want him to protect you from.”

“Oh... Okay,” Clint replied, glancing toward the bear with a dubious expression. Pepper smiled. It was pretty clear that the boy didn’t believe her. And again, given his history, Pepper honestly wasn’t surprised. Of course Clint wouldn’t think of a stuffed animal being a safe item.

“He can be a friend. A confidant, a protector. Whatever you want him to be,” Pepper informed. Clint made a confused face toward her and then back to the bear before cautiously reaching out and accepting the item. While he may not believe her, he was at least willing to accept what she was saying. Pepper’s smile brightened ever so slightly as if she knew that he believed her. Even though it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t. “He won’t judge you if you need help.”

“Ok...” Clint repeated but didn’t seem as hesitant as before. Instead, he pulled Stevie closer to his chest. Pepper tilted her head to the side, blocking happy and yet upset tears from falling. Knowing that the boy was pretty much set now, Pepper stood, preparing to leave. Clint stiffened a bit but relaxed before she could even notice.

“Are you going to be good now?” she asked. Clint hesitated for a second. He looked to his bed, then to Stevie and finally to Pepper. No. He honestly doubted he’d be fine. But there was no way in hell he’d admit to that. Cautiously, he nodded, not really trusting his voice. “Okay. Well, I... I’m gonna go now. Get some sleep, okay?”

“Ok,” Clint whispered, nodding as he squeezed Stevie a bit tighter. He desperately wanted to ask for the woman to stay, but he didn’t want to fuck anything up. Pepper trusted that Stevie would protect him. So, Clint had to trust it. Right? Pepper nodded back before reaching out and pressing a hand to the boy’s shoulder. Clint fought with himself from grabbing onto her again.

“Don’t feel bad for needing help, honey. Everyone needs it every now and then.”

\----------

“I want to see him,” Fury informed the moment Tony allowed JARVIS to answer the Director’s call. Tony blinked in surprise a few times. This was not how he had expected his morning to go. Especially after Fury had seemed like he was wiping his hands of the situation so he could focus on Bruce and keeping Steve and Natasha from finding out what happened with Clint.

“What?” the genius asked. Fury sighed and Tony could picture the man pinching the bridge of his nose. In any other situation Tony would have chuckled at the image but right now, he couldn’t. Clint had had a few more nightmares the night before and spent much of the following day down in the gym again. Today, Pepper was forcing the boy to rest and Clint hadn’t seemed pleased with the idea but she wasn’t letting him out of her sight.

“I want to see Barton,” Fury repeated. The genius frowned. Was he hearing the Director correctly?

“Why?” Tony countered. Fury sighed deeply once again. This time it was angrier then before and Tony couldn’t help but be pleased that he cause Fury to make that noise. No matter how petty it was, Tony liked ticking the Director off. Course, Tony also felt a bit insulted. Could it be that Fury didn’t trust him to watch over Clint? It had only bee a few days since the boy tried to run. And since OCFS had been alerted to their situation. “He’s fine. You can trust us.”

“Stark. I’m not in a friendly mood at the moment,” Fury warned and Tony couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow in surprise.

“You can be friendly?” he attempted to joke but two seconds after he said it, he pretty much regretted it. It wasn’t that he felt bad for making fun of Fury or anything. And certainly that he said it to Fury in particular but more that he understood how bad everything was turning out to be. Between Bruce being missing, Clint being a kid and both men attempting to run a large organization. Or well, at least Fury was attempting to run one. Tony more relied on Pepper to do it and before her was Obadiah, but still. The genius knew how hard it was.

“Stark...”

“Okay, fine. You wanna come here or you want me to bring him somewhere?” Tony sighed, hanging his head a bit. There was no way he could really argue right now. Fury deserved every right to check on his agent. And honestly, Tony would like someone else to look on the boy. Someone that knew Clint before he was de-aged.

“I’ll come to you. We have some things I want to talk to you about,” Fury admitted. Tony arched an eyebrow. That sounded interesting and yet somewhat frightening. Especially with everything else going on.

“Uh... What?” Fury huffed a dark laugh.

“I’m not going to tell you over the line. I’ll talk to you about it in person,” Fury informed. Tony actually found himself pouting for a moment before he shook it off. Considering he was currently speaking with a spy, Tony should have expected some sort of secret. Of some sort.

“Fine. Be that way,” he replied. “When should I expect you?”

“In two hours,” Fury informed. Tony nodded.

“Okay. See you then.”

\----------

Fury just stared at Clint, unsure what to do or even to say. While he had seen the report from the police and the video footage from the station, Fury hadn’t been able to picture this boy with the archer he had known for years. But now, standing here, Fury could see the resemblance. There was no arguing that this boy was indeed Clint Barton and other then not being the proper age, he seemed fine. Yes, he was thin. Looked smaller then average. But he was healthy considering his history.

At the moment, the boy was ever so slightly shaking. While not many people would notice the boy’s reaction, Fury could. Clint was absolutely terrified of him. This boy was not the archer he knew. Not even close to the archer he’d grow into being. No, instead he was attempting to be strong while cuddling a stupid little teddy bear.

“Fuck,” the Director grumbled. Clint flinched at the word. Almost as if he expected Fury to step forward and smack him. Fury pursed his lips, making the boy’s shaking turn more visible to Pepper and Tony. At the sight, Tony stepped forward, placing a hand on Clint’s shoulder. To Fury’s surprise, Clint leaned backwards into the touch ever so slightly. Taking comfort in the genius being there. That was probably a good thing but still, it was not what Fury was expecting. “Fucking hell.”

“You’re scaring him,” Pepper chastised as if Fury hadn’t realized the same thing. Fury turned his eye on her and did his best not to glare to obviously but he knew he was. There was just far too much shit on his plate at the moment. To her credit though, Pepper stood tall against his visual assault. Scowling a bit, Fury shook his head and looked back down toward Clint. Once again, the boy flinched and Fury worked hard to calm his look.

“If that’s all you’re gonna do then, I think you can leave now,” Tony mentioned. Fury narrowed his eye on the genius, daring him to say anything else. But, much like Pepper had done, Tony stood up against him. Fury let out a dark growl before his eye flicked down to see Clint’s shaking had increased ever so slightly. So he stopped and shook his head.

“Damn it,” Fury huffed before pinching the bridge of his nose in anger. “Stark, we need to talk.”

“Then talk,” Tony replied only for Fury to shake his head.

“It doesn’t have to do with this,” the Director retorted, waving a hand toward Clint. Once again the boy winced before he looked up at Tony. It was clear that the boy was uncertain what to think. Likely, Clint thought that Fury was meant to take him away from Tony and Pepper. At one point in time, Fury might have wanted to, but right now. Fury was trusting, at least, Pepper to watch him. Then Clint looked back to Fury.

“Does it have to do with the other Avengers?” the boy wondered. Fury arched an eyebrow. “Like the... The guy who is missing?”

“No,” Fury answered, looking between Pepper and Tony for answers as to what to do. Tony had debriefed him on the fact that Clint shouldn’t be informed as to a lot of the things that had been going on. Things like the Avengers and Bruce being missing.

“Oh...” Clint whispered, looking up to Tony to see what he should do now. Tony squeezed the boy’s shoulder ever so slightly.

“Alright, Ole One Eye. Let’s go to the lab.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so... I'm late. I know. I'm sorry. Got sick yesterday and the bit that I wrote for this story I didn't like so I needed to wait. Still not feeling all that great so I'm not really sure I like this chapter but still. Gotta post something.
> 
> Darius has been good all week. Has given more issues about cleaning but hubby and I seriously messed things up by reorganizing the place. Made a large mess with the toys and stuff. Hopefully it won't be long before hubby and I can clean everything and organize it all to be nice and neat. Course, with the way I feel, it's gonna be a long time before that can happen.


	19. The Law Has Arrived

"I understand that you are part of the Avengers and that normally there are many other adults here, but you must know that we have to check on every person. You could be the Dahlia Lama, or Gandhi but we still must make sure this is a good home for the child," an odd sounding female declared. Clint stiffened, hugging Stevie tight to his chest. It had been a few days since Fury had come by to visit and things seemed to have had calmed down nicely. So, waking up today and coming down to the main room to hear this was something he hadn’t expected.

The woman sounded governmental, meaning she must have been with the child services group that wanted to take the boy away. Slowly, the boy peeked around the corner pointedly using Stevie to look first as if the teddy bear would alert him to danger. When he finally looked, Clint noticed Tony and Pepper were sitting on one side of the kitchen table, the side that faced toward him. On the other side, with her back to him, was the guest. She was a rather plump woman with short dark brown hair that puffed out around her ears, an indication that she wore glasses. Like he silently thought she might, she wore a business like suit and high, high heels.

"Clint is doing wonderful here. He is a great addition to our home," Pepper kindly stated, placing her hand on Tony's when he went to open his mouth. Clint smiled, wondering how often Tony had put his foot in his mouth already as it was pretty clear that this conversation had been going on for a while. The boy had quickly learned that while Tony might be a genius, that didn't mean that the billionaire could handle social interactions well. And this seemed like a very important social interaction.

"So it may seem. But, a six year old in this type of home may not be best. In this kitchen alone, I can find fifteen potential dangers to him that have not been taken care of," the woman proudly stated. Clint frowned and glanced around. Stove, knives, oven, non-covered outlets, cabinet doors, table top corners, the island, medicine, cleaning supplies... After that, Clint could only guess. He shuddered. Yeah, he was six years old but that didn't mean he was stupid. He wasn't going to get into things he wasn't supposed to. Especially when Tony and Pepper were so nice to him.

"Clint is smart enough to not get into those things. JARVIS also is always on duty," Tony snapped. Pepper groaned which made Clint smirk. Apparently this was an issue that she hadn't wanted mentioned. The other woman snorted.

"This, jarvis, is a computer. Computers cannot be entrusted with a child's safety," the woman said as if she had said this before. Tony clenched his hands together. A sign that Clint had come to know that meant that Tony was getting upset. "A computer cannot tell if a child is going to put itself in harm's way like a person can. Nor can it stop the child if it decides to ignore sound advice."

"Miss Mascioli," Pepper began.

"Please, Karen. Call me, Karen," Karen told her. Pepper nodded.

"Karen, JARVIS is not entrusted to watch over Clint as if he were a babysitter. JARVIS warns us when he notices possibly harmful situations. For example, if Tony were in the bathroom and I was cooking dinner and Clint happened to come into the kitchen and notice a knife in hand's reach, JARVIS may warn me that Clint has arrived and is currently heading toward the knife before I notice him," Pepper explained in a calm manner. Karen nodded but Clint could tell that she didn't believe the CEO.

"Now, I have heard that for the past few days, you both have not left the living part of the tower," Karen loudly noted. Pepper nodded, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. Tony pulled a phone out of his pocket and began fiddling with it in haste. Clint gripped Stevie's arm tightly. Did Karen have a spy somewhere around here? How did she know that? "Is that not going to become an issue for Stark Industries?"

"Stark Industries is just below us and if they need my help, they can call me through JARVIS at any point. I am free to work here as needed for as long as needed," Pepper mentioned, her hands gripping her clothing tightly in anger. Karen looked to Tony. She paused when she noticed that he was messing with his phone. Pepper glanced at the genius and elbowed him when she noticed that he was doing something else. Tony looked up, surprised before noticing that Karen was looking at him with a frown.

"I work mostly in the lab, doing... Sciencey stuff. But I can take as many breaks as I want to. It's my company," Tony grumbled. Karen nodded and wrote something down. "Look, this is ridiculous, Clint is fine here. He's safe, wanted. What more can we do?"

"Listen, Mr. Stark. As I have said numerous times before, we must check on everyone. Every house is examined to make sure it is indeed the best fit for each child. As our records on this particular boy seem to have been missing, we must be extra thorough," Karen mentioned. Tony almost snarled but held back and simply nodded. That was when Pepper noticed Clint peeking around the corner.

"Oh, Clint! Good morning! Why don't you come meet our guest?" Pepper softly suggested. Clint nodded as Karen turned around. He looked at her and for a moment he thought her eyes were pitch black but then he noticed that they were actually a dark brown. Slowly he moved closer, tucking Stevie in front of him as a line of defense. Tony snorted at the sight of Clint in the Iron Man outfit holding a Captain America bear also dressed in an Iron Man outfit. Karen stood, paying no mind to the outfit and bear, and moved toward Clint before crouching down to the boy's level. She plastered a fake smile on her face. Clint did the same in return, even as he held tighter onto Stevie for protection. "This is Karen Mascioli from the Office of Children and Family Services. She's here to check on all of us."

"Hello, Clinton," Karen greeted. Clint winced at his full name. This was bad, very bad. Only people who wanted to take him away called him Clinton. Clint held back tears as he stared at Karen. He resisted looking over toward Tony cause he knew that if he did, his face would show betrayal.

"Clint... Just Clint," he muttered. Karen nodded, though it was clear that it made no difference to her.

"How are you doing, this morning?" she asked. Clint frowned, debating if he should be honest or not. A glance at Pepper made the decision. He figured he should go with sweet. A change from his past to be honest.

"Okay, I guess," Clint mumbled, kicking his feet at the ground. Karen tilted her head, surprised by the answer. She had assumed that Tony and Pepper would have rehearsed a full sheet of answers for Clint to use by now. Unknown to her, Tony had actually talked about doing that but in the end didn’t due to the fact that Pepper said it wouldn’t be right. That Karen (or whoever came) would expect it and not like it. It would just be best for all of them to be honest and truthful.

"You guess?" she wondered.

"Are you going to take me away?" he murmured, sounding depressed as he fiddled with Stevie. Karen looked shocked for a second. That wasn't something she expected to hear. Shaking it off, Karen moved on with another question.

"Do you want me too?" she inquired. Clint shook his head no. Karen gave him a hopeful smile that didn’t seem as real as she likely wanted it to be. The sight nearly had Clint wince but he held it back. "Then I hope not."

"Good, cause I like them. They're good to me," Clint declared, making Tony straighten up in pride. Pepper smiled brightly at him. Karen nodded. Now she realized her place. Tony had made her out to be the villain in this picture. Clint wasn't going to like her, ever. Karen could deal with that.

"I have heard that others live here as well. Have you seen them?" Clint shook his head. He didn't mind that in the least. Dealing with Tony and Pepper was enough.

"Tony told me that... Uh... Thor is home... Natasha is... Is... Oh, she's visiting family. Steve is... He's vacationing... And... Uh... I think Bruce is... Oh... He's kidnapped!" Clint stated, his mind raking through everything he had been told and remembered. Karen's eyes widened at that last one before looking to Tony and Pepper in surprise. No one in the world had heard that news. If it broke that an Avenger had been kidnapped, it would be catastrophic. Looking at them as well, Clint could see the horror in their eyes. Suddenly he remembered what JARVIS had told him to say. He laughed as if he caught her in a joke. "No... Sorry, that was a joke. He's with Steve on vacation. They’re meeting some friends."

"Okay," Karen hummed as if she didn't believe him. Clint didn't think she did either but considering Tony's history, it wouldn't be surprising. And Karen had signed a NDA just like any other Stark Industries employee upon arrival. So she couldn't go to the press about Bruce being kidnapped without being sued.

"They haven't been around. I think... Tony may have told them to stay away for a bit until... Well, until I settled in," Clint lied. Karen nodded. It made sense. She made a note in her notepad. Someone would have to return to check on Clint once the others made an appearance if she decided it was okay to give Tony and Pepper a longer chance and if they hadn’t arrived by the time she was done investigating them.

"Are you afraid to meet any of them?" she asked. Clint frowned, wondering why he had to be afraid of them. Tony and Pepper were good people and they vouched for the others. Then he remembered what Bruce could do. His eyes widened in shock. Was that what this was all about?

"No! Bruce only goes green when he's mad and I make sure not to make anyone mad," Clint stated from years of practice with his now dead father. Karen's eyes subtly narrowed at this and Clint wondered if he made a mistake. "Sides, if Green Bruce was bad then he'd attack the other Avengers more often but he doesn't. He only hits Thor in play."

"Don't you fear he might hit you in... 'Play?'" Clint shook his head.

"Nah. Green Bruce knows that Thor can take it," Clint proudly answered. He then leaned in closer to Karen. "Sides, Thor is a god."

"Yes, he is," Karen agreed, again in a tone that stated she more than likely didn't agree. Clint frowned. He was really not liking her. And he was trying to like her. Heck, he was being good and everything. Slowly, Karen stood and turned back to Pepper. "I think it's time that I take that tour now."

"Yes, right away," Pepper called as she jumped to her feet and began to lead the woman into the adjacent living room. As soon as they were both gone, Clint joined Tony at the table. The billionaire looked nervous.

"Did I do good?" Clint whispered to the genius. Tony smiled before looking at Clint.

"Yeah," he said before raising a hand and ruffling Clint's rather long hair. "You did good."

Tony gave the boy a soft smile before returning his attention the papers that he abandoned earlier. Karen had left numerous papers of the things OCFS deemed needed for a safe home and what Tony and Pepper were and were not allowed to do with Clint in their care. Tony intended to get a good look over each and every page. This whole thing was riding on him and he knew it. There was no way that Tony was going to screw it up.

Spreading the pages out on the table top allowed, not only JARVIS the ability to scan them over but also, Tony to have an easier time reading each page. He was intent on following every rule, no matter how stupid, so as to not lose Clint. Heck, Tony even intended on adding a few new programs into JARVIS so that the AI could better help Tony and Pepper be better 'parents' for Clint. Unbeknownst to the genius, JARVIS intended to use this knowledge in helping Tony and Pepper keep Clint on a legal end as well.

"Whatcha doin'?" Clint mumbled as he returned to the table, a package of Pop Tarts and a bowl of Lucky Charms carefully placed before him (Stevie placed gently in the seat beside him), having finally deciding what he wanted only moments before. Tony glanced up at the boy. He couldn't stop his smirk at the homely sight as Clint grabbed for his spoon to take a big bite out of his cereal. It was just enough to distract Tony from realizing that Clint had a bowl of Lucky Charms, something the archer had once told him he swore off. The boy made a small face at the taste before looking back at the bowl. At home and at Old Man Winter’s place, Clint’s normal breakfast was toast or just sliced bread, not anything like the choices laid out for him here. Though now, Clint knew Lucky Charms was _so_ not something that the boy would be having again.

"Reading," Tony told the boy as he reached for the bowl. Clint nodded as that had been pretty obvious, watching as Tony grabbed the spoon and began to eat what Clint had poured out. Lucky Charms happened to be the genius's favorite cereal. It was bought for him and not for any of the other Avengers after all. Tony kept his gaze on the papers even as he dug in to his new breakfast as Clint opened the package of Pop Tarts he had also nabbed. “Got a problem with that?”

“Nope,” Clint retorted, rolling his eyes before he looked at the Pop Tart. Barney had gotten a hold of some once or twice and had explained back that they had been strawberry flavored. While Clint hadn’t seen many other types of Pop Tarts, he did know one thing. These were indeed strawberry flavor. He smiled and began eating them. The two dropped into silence as they both enjoyed their food. It took an extra few minutes before Tony paused, realizing something that he likely never would have thought of before. Shifting in his seat, Tony glanced at the papers before looking at Clint.

"Um... Do you... Uh... Read?" At this age, Clint would have entered the orphanage that would have sent him to school. Unless they had been too busy. Sides the ex-archer had never really mentioned going to school when his parents were alive. And Tony thought he remembered something about Clint saying he couldn’t read by age 19 when he joined S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe now was a good enough reason to try? 

Clint paused in eating the rest of his first Pop Tart. For a moment he almost didn't want to admit the truth but considering Tony and Pepper had been rather kind to him, Clint was beginning to trust them. So far, they hadn't hurt him. Swallowing the bit of food in his mouth, Clint shook his head and glanced down at the table. Most adults didn't like his inability to read. They tended to call him stupid and sometimes, retarded. "Never learned."

"Would you... I don't know... Like to?" Tony hesitantly asked, having never been in this type of situation before. As an adult, Clint never really mentioned a lot of his past hardships and when he did, he never really got into smaller topics like when he learned to read, write and do math. But considering OCFS was already on their case over Clint, Tony wanted to get a head start on something as simple as education. He was a genius, how hard could it be?

Clint stared at the genius for a bit, contemplating what had just happened. No one had offered to teach him how to read. They just simply seemed to pass him onto the next person who would seem to take offense at being stuck with him. Biting his lip, Clint nodded. Yeah, he did want to learn. Maybe then he could prove he wasn't 'stupid' or 'retarded' like everyone always said. Smiling, Tony grabbed a random sheet and switched sides of the table so that he was sitting by the boy's side. Clint leaned closer to the genius so he could focus on the words better.

“Okay. Let’s start like this. You know the alphabet, right?” the genius wondered. Clint twisted a little to give him a dry look.

“A, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, and z,” Clint quickly listed. Tony snorted.

“I know you can say them. Can you recognize the letters on the papers?” he countered. Clint pursed his lips before looking down to the sheet. Cautiously, he pointed toward a letter and looked back to Tony.

“A?” Tony glanced down to see that indeed, the letter Clint had picked was ‘a.’ The genius nodded. Sighing in relief, Clint turned his attention back to the papers. It took him a bit longer this time before he pointed out a new letter. Tony’s attention twitched to it before back to Clint. “B?”

“Yup.” Clint smiled slightly and moved on. They continued until they hit ‘q’ where there was a long, long pause.

“Uh... I... I don’t see a q,” Clint admitted. Tony waved a hand.

“It’s fine. Move on. If you can recognize the others I’m sure you can recognize a q.” Clint nodded before moving on again. When they hit ‘x’ not much longer after, Clint paused again for a moment. He looked the entire sheet of paper over before giving in. There was no way he could find one of those. So, he moved on until he got to z where once again there wasn’t one. He pursed his lips in aggravation about that but looked to Tony. He had proven that outside of three letters he could recognize the alphabet. Tony smiled. “Okay. Let’s break things down then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, I can't think! Thank god I'm not writing this as a new story/chapter right now and more editing then anything. If there are errors, sorry. Just... My mind can hardly come up with words at the moment.
> 
> Darius is good. Thank goodness for out of house schooling right now otherwise I'm not sure how either one of us would have lasted the week. My mind has not been focused at all. Still having cleaning issues with him but it's getting ever so slightly better. I'm getting to the point now though of simply removing just about everything and ever so slowly bringing it all back as he proves his worthiness of it all. Then I hit days like today where I just don't care as long as he can entertain himself.


End file.
